Summary
Microsoft has spent the better half of two years battling the Federal Trade Commission over monopolistic, anti-consumer, and anti-competition allegations and while the company’s merger with Activision/Blizzard may have been approved,recent changes toXbox Game Passhave put the lawsuit back under the spotlight. Despite the ruling made on July 21, 2025, against the injunction, an appeal made by the FTC ensured that the matter would continue, resulting in further investigations. Following several controversial moves in 2024, the FTC is swinging back at Microsoft, alleging the company is actively participating in practices it warned against.
PerThe Verge, a recent filing to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit seesthe FTC calling out Microsoft for increasing the price of Xbox Game Pass and introducing what it describes as a “degraded product"in the form of the new Standard Tier subscription. It states that discontinuing “Console Game Pass,” which cost $10.99 a month, and replacing it with a more expensive version ($14.99) that doesn’t include Day One releases is a clear example of forcing consumers to pay more for a worse product. Microsoft has yet to formally respond to the filing.
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Xbox Is Suffering Plenty Of Controversies
While the core argument put forward by the FTC isthe introduction of a degraded product,the new filing goes on to further state that Microsoft’s employee layoffs and studio closures have resulted in reduced investments in outputs and quality products. This is in reference to the company’s controversial decision to shutter several popular studios in early 2024: Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Studios, and Roundhouse Games. The FTC goes on to state that this is one of the “hallmarks of a firm exercising market power post-merger.”
Whether or not this latest filing has a substantial impact on the FTC’s appeal against Microsoft’s merger remains to be seen.Xbox Game Pass’sreputation asthe so-called “best deal in gaming” has taken a substantial knock because of the price hikeand many users are threatening to permanently cancel their subscriptions.How Microsoft plans on moving forwardfrom this point will likely be revealed in the next few weeks.
