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FTC v. Microsoft: all the news from the big Xbox courtroom battle

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Richard Lawler
Microsoft insists Game Pass isn’t ‘degraded,’ as the FTC claims.

The FTC called Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass price hike “exactly the sort of consumer harm” it had predicted ahead of the company’s Activision-Blizzard buy.

Microsoft’s response (PDF) claims that with included multiplayer and the upcoming day-and-date release of Call of Duty, the offering isn’t degraded at all.

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. While Game Pass Ultimate’s price will increase, 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.
Screenshot: Re: Federal Trade Commission v. Microsoft Corp. No. 23-15992 (PDF)
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