A new lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit targets recent Xbox Game Pass price hikes, arguing that they justify “Congress’s plan to interim stay the merger and conduct a full evaluation of its competitive effects.”
The filing alleges that the price increases announced on July 9 are “inconsistent” with allegations made in last year’s Xbox FTC trial. The FTC filing details the revised new service, describing the new standard tier as a “degraded product” and alleging that it is priced higher than the original Console Game Pass tiers, even as it waits for its launch day release.
“Microsoft’s removal of its most valuable games from its new service, combined with the resulting product degradation and price increases for existing users, are precisely the kinds of consumer harms the FTC alleges were caused by the merger,” the filing said. Call of Duty will be added to the most expensive tier.
As outlined last week, the newly revised Xbox Game Pass increases price of Ultimate tier from $16.99 to $19.99 per month There are many other changes as well. I was told that price increases were inevitable. Some analysts have predicted that Game Pass will eventually introduce advertising, a change that is said to be part of Xbox’s efforts to recoup some of its $69 billion investment in Activision Blizzard, according to IGN analysts.
