The plans for the merger of Microsoft and Activision have been actively criticized not only by some regulators, but also by players. Last year, it became known about a group of players who decided to sue Microsoft over the deal to buy Activision Blizzard. At that time, their lawsuit was rejected, but that was not the end of it. At the moment, legal proceedings between players and Microsoft are still ongoing at the appeal level.
The players in their initial lawsuit noted that the merger of the companies (Microsoft and Activision) would lead to a decrease in competition. They were supported in this by Sony, who provided the necessary documents.
A few weeks ago, Microsoft announced that it was raising the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and other subscription tiers. The news was used by gamers suing Microsoft. Lawyers for the gamers’ lawsuit against the deal sent a letter to the court hearing their appeal. The letter said that the Game Pass price hike proves that “plaintiffs are actually suffering the monetary harm they claimed they would suffer (from the deal) and that their expert economist predicted.” You can see the letter in its entirety below. published journalist Stephen Totilo, letter added to case file:
Recall that earlier the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is still suing Microsoft and seeking to cancel the deal with Activision, also used the increase in Game Pass prices to justify its position of “subscription degradation.” Microsoft responded to this by explaining why it does not consider the Game Pass Standard level a worse offer for users.
