Microsoft Says Wrong to Call New Game Pass Standard Tier 'Degraded', Calls FTC Filing 'Misleading'

Microsoft hiked Xbox Game Pass prices and introduced a new tier of the game subscription service earlier this month. The newly launched Xbox Game Pass Standard tier grants players a library of hundreds of titles and all benefits of Game Pass Core, including online console multiplayer, but crucially will not include new first-party titles on the day of release. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) criticised the raised Game Pass pricing and called the new subscription tier “degraded” in a court filing last week. Now, the Xbox parent has responded to the FTC's claim and called it “misleading.”

Microsoft responds to FTC

In a new court filing on Friday, Microsoft said that it was wrong to call the new Standard tier a “degraded” version of the discontinued Game Pass for Console tier. “That discontinued product did not offer multiplayer functionality, which had to be purchased separately for an additional $9.99/month (making the total cost $20.98/month).” Microsoft argued in the filing.

The new Xbox Game Pass Standard tier offers access to a catalogue of hundreds of games and online multiplayer for $14.99 (roughly Rs. 1,251). In the filing, Microsoft said that its Game Pass Ultimate tier will offer more value to players by featuring new titles “day-and-date," including the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

The FTC's filing

The FTC on Thursday had called the newly introduced Standard tier a “degraded” product. “This product costs 36% more than Console Game Pass, and withholds day-one releases. Product degradation—removing the most valuable games from Microsoft's new service—combined with price increases for existing customers, is exactly the sort of consumer harm from the [Microsoft-Activision] merger the FTC has alleged,” the FTC had said in its filing.

In its response, Microsoft called the FTC's letter to the court a “misleading, extra-record account of the facts” and said that the regulatory body had barely mentioned Game Pass subscription at the FTC v. Microsoft trial over the company's attempt to acquire Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard last year. Microsoft said that it was common for businesses to change service offerings over time and its new Game Pass tier was not withholding Call of Duty from users who want to play the game.

Additionally, Microsoft also pointed out that Sony's PlayStation Plus game subscription service had continued to “thrive,” even as the company only made few titles available on the service at launch.

Microsoft hiked the prices of Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox Game Pass Core and PC Game Pass earlier this month, and discontinued Game Pass for console for new subscribers. The newly introduced Game Pass Standard tier, which offers a catalogue of hundreds of games and online console multiplayer, will be available in the coming months.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available on Game Pass day one when it launches October 25. Members of the Standard tier, however, won't get access to the title through their subscriptions.