FTC claims Xbox’s Game Pass price hike is ‘consumer harm’ it warned of

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FTC claims Xbox’s Game Pass price hike is ‘consumer harm’ it warned of

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has called

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’s recently announced Game Pass price rises “exactly the sort of consumer harm” it tried to stop by fighting the company’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Following a court victory for

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last year, which the FTC is currently appealing, the corporation completed its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October 2023.

The agency is continuing to submit evidence while its appeal is considered, and in a new filing on Thursday, it highlighted

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’s new Game Pass tiers, which include a price increase for Ultimate and a new Standard tier that doesn’t include day one releases.

“Product degradation—removing the most valuable games from

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’s new service—combined with price increases for existing users, is exactly the sort of consumer harm from the merger the FTC has alleged,” it wrote.

“

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’s price increases and product degradation—combined with

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’s reduced investments in output and product quality via employee layoffs, are the hallmarks of a firm exercising market power post-merger.”

The FTC’s letter goes on to note that, “

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’s price increases coincide with adding Call of Duty to Game Pass’s most expensive tier, and discontinuing the Console tier will happen shortly before releasing CoD’s newest game.”

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It notes that, “

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promised that ‘the acquisition would benefit consumers by making [CoD] available on

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’s Game Pass on the day it is released on console (with no price increase for the service based on the acquisition).’”

The agency concludes by claiming that

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’s post-merger actions vindicate its earlier scepticism of promises it made regarding Game Pass.

Previously, The FTC alleged that

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’s decision to make mass layoffs earlier this year contradicted previous statements it made in court about how it planned to run the Xbox business if it acquired Activision Blizzard.

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’s lawyers later responded to the FTC’s claim, saying its “factual assertions are incomplete and misleading”.

From this month, Xbox’s top Game Pass Ultimate tier will increase in price to $19.99 / £14.99 / €17.99 per month (up from $16.99 / £12.99 / €14.99). PC Game Pass will also increase in price to $11.99 / £9.99 / €11.99.

Significantly,

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has retired its Xbox Game Pass for the Console tier for new users. This will soon be replaced with a new $14.99 “Standard” tier, which will include access to a back catalogue of games, and online play, but no day-one releases or cloud gaming.