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
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.
美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）对微软公司（纳斯达克：MSFT）决定提高Xbox Game Pass价格并推出一种新的“退化”标准层次表示反对。
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.
事件经过：上周，微软宣布提高PC Game Pass和Xbox Game Pass Ultimate的价格，并同时推出新的Game Pass标准层次。
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.
据The Verge报道，FTC将这一新层次称作“退化产品”，因为它将不会提供第一方Xbox游戏的即日访问功能，而该功能包含在售价为10.99美元的游戏通行证Console版中。
MSFT did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.
MSFT没有立即回复Benzinga的评论请求。
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售价为14.99美元，只提供在线多人游戏。美国联邦贸易委员会在向第九巡回上诉法院提交的一份文件中表示，微软的价格上涨、产品退化和减少产品质量的投资是一个市场力量合并后公司行使市场权力的迹象。
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奈飞在美国终止了最低价格的无广告计划：现在您的选择是：
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.
这一批评是美国联邦贸易委员会针对地方法院去年未能阻止微软收购动视暴雪的上诉的一部分。
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.
这项价值687亿美元的交易已经在去年十月完成，但第九巡回上诉法院仍需对美国联邦贸易委员会的上诉进行决定。
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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.
为什么重要：微软决定提高Xbox Game Pass的价格并不出乎意料。去年九月，Xbox负责人菲尔·斯宾塞（Phil Spencer）已经暗示这项服务的“必然”价格上涨，引用通货膨胀和经济因素。
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层次的重组和显著的价格上涨在本月初正式宣布。标准的Xbox Game Pass层次不再包括Call of Duty: Black Ops 6等即日发布的游戏。
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.
这些变化是紧随微软以690亿美元收购动视暴雪的审批之后出现的，该交易在去年10月获得了英国竞争和市场管理局（CMA）的批准，微软同意将Activision的游戏流媒体权利出售给Ubisoft Entertainment。
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请点击此链接查看更多有关Benzinga的消费科技报道。
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免责声明：本内容部分使用人工智能工具生成，并经Benzinga编辑审核发布。
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
图片来源：shutterstock