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[ChiefDada]

FTC calls Xbox Game Pass Standard tier a 'degraded product,' alleges harm to consumers

The Federal Trade Commission alleges that the combination of the new Game Pass price hike alongside a 'degraded' Standard tier could harm consumers.

www.tweaktown.com

A bit ago, Microsoft announced that it would be making big changes to its Xbox Game Pass multi-game subscription service. Game Pass Ultimate has been raised by $3, from $16.99 a month to the new $19.99 a month price, and Game Pass Console tier has now been removed entirely, and will be replaced with a new higher-cost Standard tier "in the coming months" that removes day-and-date releases and trades that big benefit out with online multiplayer.

These adjustments were caught by the FTC, who is currently appealing a decision made by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in July 2023 that had led to the closure of the $70 billion Microsoft-Activision merger. In a new filing, the FTC alleges that these price hikes, in tandem with the new "degraded" Xbox Game Pass Standard product, will cause harm to consumers.

Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/9941...-product-alleges-harm-to-consumers/index.html

FTC:

 

[Arsic]

Do they call out other subscription services for this shit?

I’m no Xbox fan but my Jesus go shit on Sonys price increase with no value added to the customer for penis station plus.

 

[Loomy]

Do they call out other subscription services for this shit?

I’m no Xbox fan but my Jesus go shit on Sonys price increase with no value added to the customer for penis station plus.

They're not currently suing Sony, so they have no reason to call it out yet.

 

[Mr Moose]

Do they call out other subscription services for this shit?

I’m no Xbox fan but my Jesus go shit on Sonys price increase with no value added to the customer for penis station plus.

Isn't Standard the new one? It is dog shit.

News - Platform - "Xbox Game Pass Standard" is launching in September

A new tier called "Xbox Game Pass Standard" is launching in September. https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-game-pass-is-getting-major-changes-with-a-new-tier-without-day-one-games-and-a-range-of-price-increases Soon, Xbox Game Pass for Console will be shuttered for new users only...

www.neogaf.com

Xbox Game Pass is getting MAJOR changes, with a new tier without day one games, and a range of price increases​

 

[bender]

#SonyToo in the first reply.

 

[DeadOblivion78]

Do they call out other subscription services for this shit?

I’m no Xbox fan but my Jesus go shit on Sonys price increase with no value added to the customer for penis station plus.

Sony didn't promise to not increase prices after a $69 billion acquisition.

 

[DeadOblivion78]

#SonyToo in the first reply.

 

[Perrott]

Do they call out other subscription services for this shit?

I’m no Xbox fan but my Jesus go shit on Sonys price increase with no value added to the customer for penis station plus.

Sony literally added a renewed PS2 Classics program and a growing catalog of PSVR2 titles to the PlayStation Plus service, on top of expanded PS5 cloud streaming capabilities, since raising prices last September.

 

[adamsapple]

FTC?

 

[Crayon]

I don't fully understand the problem, here.

 

[Nydius]

Do they call out other subscription services for this shit?

I’m no Xbox fan but my Jesus go shit on Sonys price increase with no value added to the customer for penis station plus.

Sony didn't make "day one on PS+ Extra and Premium" a central component of their marketing of the service.

Microsoft also directly, and repeatedly, stated that the ABK acquisition would not result in increased prices of Game Pass. They made this claim to both the CMA and the FTC. I'd say the FTC is well within their right to call Microsoft out on their bullshit and lies.

 

[Ozriel]

Sony didn't promise to not increase prices after a $69 billion acquisition.

Microsoft also directly, and repeatedly, stated that the ABK acquisition would not result in increased prices of Game Pass. They made this claim to both the CMA and the FTC. I'd say the FTC is well within their right to call Microsoft out on their bullshit and lies.

Acquisition was nearly a year ago.
Microsoft never promised they'd never increase subscription prices.

Sony didn't make "day one on PS+ Extra and Premium" a central component of their marketing of the service.

If the FTC sued every company that changed their product offerings, they'd need to hire hundreds of lawyers.

 

[bender]

Acquisition was nearly a year ago.

 

[Unknown?]

Acquisition was nearly a year ago.
Microsoft never promised they'd never increase subscription prices.



If the FTC sued every company that changed their product offerings, they'd need to hire hundreds of lawyers.

Whoa, guys!! Almost a year! Nothing to see here! That was the 16 bit era, long past the statute of limitations..

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

I never thought I'd agree with the FTC but here we are. The price keeps going up but the value to me keeps going down and now they are even stripping features away. It is no longer worth the asking price for me.

 

[Mr Moose]

Acquisition was nearly a year ago.
Microsoft never promised they'd never increase subscription prices.



If the FTC sued every company that changed their product offerings, they'd need to hire hundreds of lawyers.

They increased it last year, too.

 

[graywolf323]

They increased it last year, too.

yeah but that was before the acquisition closed so it doesn’t count

in fact it would only count if they had done it the same day and even then only if Phil openly said they were doing it for ABK, otherwise you need to stop believing your lying eyes and trust in Phil who would NEVER lie to us

/s

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Well, at least this show about Xbox was renewed for a new season.

 

[StereoVsn]

One of the 3 largest corporations in the world buys a largest software publisher (at least in the West). They are allowed to do so under certain conditions around potential consumer harm.

Said company starts breaking those conditions, gets called out for it and yet we have people stanning for it immediately.

Also, GTFO with your SonyToo shit. Sony didn’t buy $80 billion worth of gaming software publishers in a span of like 2 years.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

I hate price increases as much as the next person, but I do wonder about this

"Microsoft's price increases and product degradation--combined with Microsoft's reduced investments in output and product quality via employee layoffs--are the hallmarks of a firm exercising market power post-merger.'

Do they think that these actions are as a result of the merger? Just seems like common business practice across the board to increase profits.

 

[bitbydeath]

Acquisition was nearly a year ago.
Microsoft never promised they'd never increase subscription prices.

They didn’t put the acquired games on the service in that time either.

 

[Chromium.Wings]

At least their online services are being consistent across the board while increasing the price. Imagine if they had two outages in like two weeks right around the time they announced a price increase. That'd be beyond the pale for certain.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

I hate price increases as much as the next person, but I do wonder about this

"Microsoft's price increases and product degradation--combined with Microsoft's reduced investments in output and product quality via employee layoffs--are the hallmarks of a firm exercising market power post-merger.'

Do they think that these actions are as a result of the merger? Just seems like common business practice across the board to increase profits.

Absolutely nothing to do with a fact that the biggest earner in the industry is dropping to the (one of the) worst-growing subscription services on the market. No, sir.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

Absolutely bothing to do with a fact that the biggest earner in the industry is dropping to the (one of the) worst-growing subscription service on the market. No, sir.

Then the market wil sort that out and people will stop subscribing to the service ... MS don't have a monopoly, if they degrade their service it's to their own detriment as people will go elsewhere as we've seen.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Then the market wil sort that out and people will stop subscribing to the service ... MS don't have a monopoly, if they degrade their service it's to their own detriment as people will go elsewhere as we've seen.

MS made some promises for deal to come through. And they are broke those during the active appeal process. There is nothing cunning here.

But kudos to MS for breaking promises under the active due process, I guess.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

MS made some promises for deal to come through. And they are broke those during the active appeal process. There is nothing cunning here.

But kudos to MS for breaking promises under the active due process, I guess.

What promises were broken?

 

[Bernoulli]

Back to court

 

[Ozriel]

I never thought I'd agree with the FTC but here we are. The price keeps going up but the value to me keeps going down and now they are even stripping features away. It is no longer worth the asking price for me.

Then unsubscribe?

They increased it last year, too.

Makes their case even stronger, then.

One of the 3 largest corporations in the world buys a largest software publisher (at least in the West). They are allowed to do so under certain conditions around potential consumer harm.

Said company starts breaking those conditions, gets called out for it and yet we have people stanning for it immediately.

There was never any condition that GamePass prices would never go up.
Legally binding conditions include keeping it multiplatform, and ensuring feature parity and no early beta or preorder perks exclusively for one platform. Additional legally binding terms include some stuff with cloud rights that were agreed with the CMA and EU.

Which of these conditions did they break? Let's keep these discussions honest.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

What promises were broken?

Not to raise prices or substantially change product for the worse as the result of this merger.

Boy, just you wait for the morning Monday tea in London. This should be fun.

 

[StereoVsn]

MS made some promises for deal to come through. And they are broke those during the active appeal process. There is nothing cunning here.

But kudos to MS for breaking promises under the active due process, I guess.

I really wish FTC could actually win a case for once. A few $bil penalty would be sizeable enough for MS not to pull that shit again.

Mind you none of that is going to happen, but a man (or maybe Gender A for MS) can dream.

 

[StereoVsn]

Then unsubscribe?


Makes their case even stronger, then.



There was never any condition that GamePass prices would never go up.
Legally binding conditions include keeping it multiplatform, and ensuring feature parity and no early beta or preorder perks exclusively for one platform. Additional legally binding terms include some stuff with cloud rights that were agreed with the CMA and EU.

Which of these conditions did they break? Let's keep these discussions honest.

But keep stanning. I sincerely hope you do get paid for it.

 

[feynoob]

I can finally use this meme.

 

[feynoob]

Then unsubscribe?


Makes their case even stronger, then.



There was never any condition that GamePass prices would never go up.
Legally binding conditions include keeping it multiplatform, and ensuring feature parity and no early beta or preorder perks exclusively for one platform. Additional legally binding terms include some stuff with cloud rights that were agreed with the CMA and EU.

Which of these conditions did they break? Let's keep these discussions honest.

How many checks does MS write for you?
Even adamsapple isn't this shameless.

 

[Punished Miku]

This is seriously embarrassing. They're in last place and offer far more than any other sub.

 

[Puscifer]

Do they call out other subscription services for this shit?

I’m no Xbox fan but my Jesus go shit on Sonys price increase with no value added to the customer for penis station plus.

Seriously, they lost me a customer for PSN permanently for that one. I only played COD and fighting games online and without realizing that was the lead to me buying more stuff on playstation.

I played Ragnarok and only played the demo for stellar blade since I finished it so I guess that says it all.

 

[adamsapple]

This is seriously embarrassing. They're in last place and offer far more than any other sub.

Last hail mary before the FTC heads all get changed and Lina gets fired post-election.

 

[feynoob]

This is seriously embarrassing. They're in last place and offer far more than any other sub.

They don't offer that much. Their recent games have been ass.

 

[Js562]

Still going on with this huh

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

Not to raise prices or substantially change product for the worse as the result of this merger.

Boy, just for the morning Monday tea in London. This should be fun.

The key concessions I recall were to appease regulators were:
- Cloud Gaming Concessions
- Commitments to keep COD on rival platforms

Again, I hate price hikes. But what's the FTC expectation here that no company raises prices after an acquisition?

 

[Ozriel]

But keep stanning. I sincerely hope you do get paid for it.

You've been asked a question to detail which binding agreement they broke, or provide proof that they were only allowed to buy Activision with a binding agreement that there would be no change to GamePass.

I see you've taken the easy way out to go with a meme vs providing a response.

After spending ages here damning GP as a flawed subscription that 'trained Xbox owners not to buy games' and labeling it as unprofitable, howling in outrage at price increases seems kinda strange.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Good lord what is the FTC even doing?

It’s an optional sub service with zero exclusive content. If they want to fuck it up I don’t think that needs any regulator involvement.

 

[Saber]

Do they call out other subscription services for this shit?

I’m no Xbox fan but my Jesus go shit on Sonys price increase with no value added to the customer for penis station plus.

I would agree if not for the fact that Microsoft is the one who did this after a 69 fucking billion buy out of Activision and making pinkie promises for it to pass through the trial. Also nothing stops them to go after Sony, but those two are not remotelly comparable.

 

[Topher]

 

[feynoob]

 

[ReBurn]

The FTC is still salty

 

[adamsapple]

 

[Trogdor1123]

Isn’t it an entirely new product? I thought people on the old one could keep it?

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Do they call out other subscription services for this shit?

I’m no Xbox fan but my Jesus go shit on Sonys price increase with no value added to the customer for penis station plus.

Sony Too™

Keep in mind Microsoft made promises to regulators and the public that there would be no Game Pass increases in light of the ABK deal closing.

That part is....kinda important, no?

Personally, I don't care about the price increase. They had to make changes at some point. But I did think MS would've gone about it differently, especially adding Day 1 demos/trails of 1P releases to the regular/Standard tier so that there's still "Day 1" there technically.

At least they added online play to the regular tier again, so weird it was missing there while Core, PC & Ultimate had it (Core having it due to XBL Gold but still).

The key concessions I recall were to appease regulators were:
- Cloud Gaming Concessions
- Commitments to keep COD on rival platforms

Again, I hate price hikes. But what's the FTC expectation here that no company raises prices after an acquisition?

The problem for Microsoft is, they publicly said multiple times (to customers) that there wouldn't be a price increase to Game Pass and suggested a price increase was only a potential scenario in light of the ABK deal closing.

Granted anyone could infer MS just meant "at that time" they were saying the statement that there wouldn't be a price increase, not that they meant it in perpetuity. But that's corporate speak wiggle room coming back to bite them.

That, and the fact service price did in fact increase in large part due to ABK while also removing previous perks at one of the old tiers (now just rebranded to 'Standard'), is a pretty easy case to make about customers being negatively affected, for a regulator.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

Sony Too™

Keep in mind Microsoft made promises to regulators and the public that there would be no Game Pass increases in light of the ABK deal closing.

That part is....kinda important, no?

Personally, I don't care about the price increase. They had to make changes at some point. But I did think MS would've gone about it differently, especially adding Day 1 demos/trails of 1P releases to the regular/Standard tier so that there's still "Day 1" there technically.

At least they added online play to the regular tier again, so weird it was missing there while Core, PC & Ultimate had it (Core having it due to XBL Gold but still).

I think they spoke about price increases directly related to the acquisition.

Given the inflation going on in the world since those conversations were taking place, they would have a tough time pinning the price rise solely on the merger IMHO.

I think this is the reason that the FTC are focussing more on 'degredation of the service'. They know that proving a price hike was solely about ABK when inflation has been running rampant for over a year would be a tough ask.

 

[ManaByte]

Back to court

Would they even get a court date before Lina Khan is out of a job later this year?