A new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filing in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is taking aim at the recent Xbox Game Pass price increase, saying that it vindicates “the congressional design of preliminarily halting mergers to full evaluate their likely competitive effects.”
The filing argues that the price increase, which was announced July 9, is “inconsistent” with the case it made during last year’s Xbox FTC trial. In breaking down the new revised service, the FTC filing describes the new Standard tier as a “degraded product” that withholds day-one releases while still representing an increase over the original Console Game Pass tier.
“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,” the filing reads. It also notes that the price increase coincides with Call of Duty being added to the most expensive tier.
As outlined last week, the newly-revised Xbox Game Pass will raise the price of the Ultimate tier from $16.99 to $19.99 per month along with a host of other changes. The price increase was described as inevitable by analysts speaking with IGN, with some predicting that Game Pass will eventually see the introduction of ads. The changes are said to be part of a push by Xbox to recoup some of its $69 billion investment in Activision Blizzard.
While the Activision Blizzard deal officially closed on October 13, 2023, the FTC continues to argue that the courts got it wrong when it ruled in favor of Microsoft in 2023. Back in February, the FTC also complained that Microsoft’s 1900 gaming layoffs contradicted its statements in the antitrust trial.
IGN has reached out to Xbox for a response to the FTC’s filing. The price increase will go into effect for existing members on September 12.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.