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Microsoft

Game Pass will not increase its price as a result of the purchase of Activision Blizzard

The head of Xbox said at the end of 2022 that they will maintain prices of their consoles and subscriptions, but made it clear that they can do it forever.

Xbox Game Pass

Microsoft does not plan to increase the Xbox Game Pass price if the purchase of Activision Blizzard is approved, or at least that’s what a new document filed with the courts suggests. According to the company, the acquisition will not affect the pricing policy of the service, although Phil Spencer, head of the division, last year hinted at the possibility of increases in the future.

“Here, the acquisition would benefit consumers by making Call of Duty available on Microsoft’s Game Pass on the day it is released on console (with no price increase for the service based on the acquisition), on Nintendo, and on other services that allow cloud streaming,” mentions the document regarding their service.

Temporary blockade in the United States

The FTC, the regulatory body in the United States, has decided to temporarily block the Activision Blizzard deal. They are afraid that if they had not postponed the date, the two companies would have reached some kind of agreement, so they preferred to send an injunction to the California courts. The judge has ruled that the matter must be settled in federal court.

Microsoft has responded to the lawsuit with optimism. Brad Smith, the company’s president, applauded the FTC’s decision to file suit in federal court, saying it will speed up the decision-making process. “This benefits everyone. We always prefer constructive and amicable paths with governments but have confidence in our case and look forward to presenting it.”

The hearing will take place very soon, between June 23 and 24. To date, the acquisition has been approved by more than 40 countries, including the 27 countries of the European Union. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, has blocked the deal because it believes that Microsoft will control the cloud gaming business in a monopolistic way.

Source | TweakTown