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Activision | Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
When Microsoft finally won the fight with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over acquiring Activision Blizzard, we thought the matter had come to an end, but the FTC wasn't done.
The Commission has appealed the decision, and Xbox's new Game Pass tiers are one of the points it latched on. Microsoft has increased the price of the PC version to $11.99, and Game Pass Ultimate to $19.99 (from 16.99). Moreover, the Standard tier doesn’t include day-one releases, and the FTC pointed out this is what it had warned the court about.
"Product degradation – removing the most valuable games from Microsoft’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 said (via VGC).
"Microsoft’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."
This goes against Microsoft's promises that the acquisition "would benefit consumers by making [CoD] available on Microsoft’s Game Pass on the day it is released on console", with no price hikes, according to the FTC.
Microsoft didn't agree with the label and claimed it was "wrong" to call it "degraded" because the Standard tier is replacing the Game Pass for Console service, which didn't include online multiplayer.
"Microsoft is offering a new service tier, Game Pass Standard, which offers access to hundreds of back-catalog games and multiplayer functionality for $14.99/month," it shared.
"It is wrong to call this a ‘degraded’ version of the discontinued Game Pass for Console offering. That discontinued product did not offer multiplayer functionality, which had to be purchased separately for an additional $9.99/month (making the total cost $20.98/month).
"While Game Pass Ultimate’s price will increase from $16.99 to $19.99/month, the service will offer more value through many new games available ‘day-and-date.’ Among them is the upcoming release of Call of Duty, which has never before been available on a subscription day-and-date."
Additionally, Microsoft argued that changing service offerings over time is "common for businesses" and said the FTC was shifting focus to the subscription market trying to accuse Microsoft of withholding Call of Duty from rivals through higher prices.
However, "there remains no evidence anywhere of harm to competition: Sony’s subscription service continues to thrive, even as they put few new games into their subscription day-and-date, unlike Microsoft."
"The transaction thus continues to benefit competition and consumers—exactly what the district court correctly found."
Earlier this year, the FTC claimed Microsoft had planned massive layoffs at Activision Blizzard before the acquisition.
We don't know what the outcome of the appeal will be, but the chances of Microsoft nullifying its deal are pretty low I think. Stay tuned, read the original article here, and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
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