FTC Criticizes Microsoft Over Xbox Game Pass Price Increase And 'Degraded' Standard Tier
FTC Criticizes Microsoft Over Xbox Game Pass Price Increase And 'Degraded' Standard Tier
MSFT did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has expressed its disapproval of Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ:MSFT) decision to raise the prices for Xbox Game Pass and introduce a new "degraded" standard tier.
美國聯邦貿易委員會（FTC）對微軟公司（納斯達克：MSFT）決定提高Xbox Game Pass價格並推出一種新的“退化”標準層次表示反對。
What Happened: Last week, Microsoft announced a hike in the prices of PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and simultaneously launched a new Game Pass Standard tier.
事件經過：上週，微軟宣佈提高PC Game Pass和Xbox Game Pass Ultimate的價格，並同時推出新的Game Pass標準層次。
The FTC has labeled this new tier as a "degraded product" because it will not offer day-one access to first-party Xbox games, a feature that is included in the $10.99 Game Pass for Console, as reported by The Verge.
據The Verge報道，FTC將這一新層次稱作“退化產品”，因爲它將不會提供第一方Xbox遊戲的即日訪問功能，而該功能包含在售價爲10.99美元的遊戲通行證Console版中。
MSFT did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.
MSFT沒有立即回覆Benzinga的評論請求。
The Xbox Game Pass Standard, priced at $14.99, will only provide online multiplayer. The FTC, in a submission to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, argued that Microsoft's price increases, product degradation, and reduced investments in output and product quality are signs of a company exercising market power post-merger with Activision Blizzard.
Xbox Game Pass Standard售價爲14.99美元，只提供在線多人遊戲。美國聯邦貿易委員會在向第九巡迴上訴法院提交的一份文件中表示，微軟的價格上漲、產品退化和減少產品質量的投資是一個市場力量合併後公司行使市場權力的跡象。
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This criticism is part of the FTC's ongoing appeal against a district court's decision not to prevent Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year.
這一批評是美國聯邦貿易委員會針對地方法院去年未能阻止微軟收購動視暴雪的上訴的一部分。
The $68.7 billion deal was completed in October, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is still to decide on the FTC's appeal.
這項價值687億美元的交易已經在去年十月完成，但第九巡迴上訴法院仍需對美國聯邦貿易委員會的上訴進行決定。
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Why It Matters: Microsoft's decision to increase the prices of its Xbox Game Pass was not unexpected. In September, Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, had already hinted at an "inevitable" price hike for the service, citing inflation and economic factors.
爲什麼重要：微軟決定提高Xbox Game Pass的價格並不出乎意料。去年九月，Xbox負責人菲爾·斯賓塞（Phil Spencer）已經暗示這項服務的“必然”價格上漲，引用通貨膨脹和經濟因素。
However, the restructuring of the Game Pass tiers and the significant price increases were officially announced earlier this month. The standard Xbox Game Pass tier no longer includes day-one releases, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
然而，Game Pass層次的重組和顯著的價格上漲在本月初正式宣佈。標準的Xbox Game Pass層次不再包括Call of Duty: Black Ops 6等即日發佈的遊戲。
These changes followed the $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, which was approved by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in Britain in October 2023, after Microsoft agreed to sell Activision's game streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment.
這些變化是緊隨微軟以690億美元收購動視暴雪的審批之後出現的，該交易在去年10月獲得了英國競爭和市場管理局（CMA）的批准，微軟同意將Activision的遊戲流媒體權利出售給Ubisoft Entertainment。
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
免責聲明：本內容部分使用人工智能工具生成，並經Benzinga編輯審核發佈。
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
圖片來源：shutterstock
