Xbox Game Pass Without Price Increase; Microsoft's Evasive Stance
The British authority is considering any move Microsoft might make after acquiring Activision. The CMA is concerned that finalizing the merger will lead to an increase in the price of Game Pass. Microsoft responds evasively.
Xbox Game Pass is wildly popular. There's nothing surprising about it - for just $1 for the first month ($9.99 for each subsequent month) users get access to a sizable number of good games.
CMA is concerned about Xbox Game Pass price increases
However, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has expressed concerns that Microsoft, as a result of the merger with Activision Blizzard will try to raise the price of the subscriptions (via: VGC).
"Subscription prices can easily be changed, so Microsoft may want to do so, especially if it adds popular content from Activision to the service, including Call of Duty," suggests the UK office
Microsoft's response
Microsoft examined the suggestion in a recent announcement, aimed primarily at the CMA.
"Game Pass prices will not increase in the wake of the merger, and certainly will not increase to a level that would offset the significant benefit of having Activision titles hit Game Pass on launch day," Microsoft points out
The giant denies that it intends to raise the price of subscriptions "as a result of the merger," which does not rule out doing so under some other pretext, such as a desire to raise prices by the difference due to inflation. Microsoft pointed out that after the Bethesda acquisition in 2020 and dropping new games from that developer into the Game Pass service, the subscription price did not change.
"Game Pass users are price-sensitive, so such an increase would affect all users, including those not interested in CoD. [...] Game Pass subscribers can cancel their subscription at any time after a month of play. Since CoD games are released only once a year, the price increase would give the company a short-term boost, as gamers would be able to cancel the subscription after a few months after the release of a new CoD because of the higher price," Microsoft argues
From these statements, it seems that apparently raising the price would be counterproductive.
