Following criticism from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of Microsoft’s planned price and feature changes to its Game Pass subscription service, the software giant has responded to allegations of product degradation. In a letter to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court, Microsoft argues that its new least expensive Game Pass tier is a better product for gamers, not a degraded one, because it includes multiplayer functionality.
On Thursday, the FTC submitted a letter to the Ninth Circuit Court accusing Microsoft of product degradation following its Activision-Blizzard acquisition. At issue was Microsoft’s removal of day-one new release access to subscribers, something gamers had under the less expensive console-only Game Pass base tier. Under the new Game Pass Standard tier, $4 per month more expensive than the previous entry-level plan, gamers get multiplayer functionality but lose out on included access to new games.
