In July 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission argued that Microsoft’s Game Pass restructuring illustrated the consumer harm it had warned could follow Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard: higher prices and fewer benefits in a lower-priced tier. That was the FTC’s argument in litigation, not a court finding that the changes were illegal or that the merger had harmed every subscriber. The agency’s public case page now lists the Microsoft–Activision matter as closed, with a last update of May 22, 2025.
What changed in Game Pass in 2024?
The changes at issue were announced in 2024 and reported on July 19 of that year. The prices below are historical figures from that report, not current subscription prices.
| Plan or customer group | Before the change | 2024 change reported |
|---|---|---|
| Xbox Game Pass for Console | $10.99 per month for the existing console plan, with catalog access and day-one first-party releases. | Microsoft discontinued sign-ups for new customers. |
| Existing Console subscribers | Could subscribe to the Console plan. | Existing subscribers were reported as able to keep the plan and its benefits, including day-one access to releases such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Eligibility could depend on account and subscription circumstances. |
| Xbox Game Pass Standard | This tier did not exist in the same structure. | A new $14.99-per-month tier offered catalog access but not day-one access to new first-party Xbox games. |
| Xbox Game Pass Ultimate | A higher-priced tier that included day-one releases. | Its price increased; the cited report does not establish a new price to use here. It retained day-one access. |
| PC Game Pass | $9.99 per month. | The July 2024 report said the price was scheduled to rise to $11.99 per month in September 2024. |
The former Console price and new Standard price differ by about 36%: $14.99 is approximately 36.4% above $10.99. That arithmetic is not a like-for-like comparison, however. Standard had a different feature set, while existing subscribers were reported as retaining the older plan and new customers could not choose it. Some first-party titles might take up to 12 months or more to appear in the Standard catalog, according to support-language cited in the July 2024 report; that was a variable estimate, not a guaranteed wait for every game. Thurrott’s July 19, 2024 report described the plan changes and historical prices.
Why did the FTC call the changes consumer harm?
The agency’s concern was the combination: some Game Pass prices rose, and the replacement lower-priced console tier did not include a prominent benefit previously associated with the Console plan—day-one access to new first-party games. In the FTC’s framing, customers who wanted that benefit would need to pay for Ultimate, while customers choosing Standard would get a narrower service than the old Console tier.
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The FTC characterized this as “product degradation”: a subscription can lose value for a particular group when a valuable feature is removed or reserved for a more expensive option, even if the service still has a large catalog. The theory was not that every subscriber necessarily paid more or received less. A customer who mainly played older catalog titles could consider Standard adequate; a player who wanted new releases on day one faced a different trade-off.
In its December 2022 challenge, the FTC argued that control of Activision Blizzard franchises—including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch—could strengthen Microsoft in console, multi-game subscription, and cloud-gaming markets. The agency said Microsoft could potentially affect the price, timing, quality, terms, or availability of Activision content on rival platforms and services. It pointed to the Game Pass changes as evidence consistent with its concern that ownership of valuable content could give Microsoft more leverage; the changes alone do not establish that the merger caused them. The FTC’s administrative complaint and its December 8, 2022 announcement set out the broader theory.
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Why was Call of Duty central to the debate?
Microsoft had presented adding Activision content to Game Pass, including day-one access to Call of Duty on Game Pass, as a consumer benefit of the acquisition. The July 2024 controversy sharpened the question of which subscribers would receive day-one access: the restructuring kept that benefit in Ultimate rather than the new Standard tier. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was due later in 2024, making the tier distinction immediately relevant to players deciding whether to subscribe.
That distinction matters: day-one availability is not the same as permanent ownership, and the report did not establish that every future Activision title would be day-one access for every Game Pass subscriber. Subscription access lasts only while the game remains in the catalog and the subscriber has an eligible active plan. The FTC’s argument concerned the value and terms of access, not a promise of permanent ownership.
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- NEW GAMES ON DAY ONE: Enjoy incredible new games on day one from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks, Activision Blizzard, and more. Play The Outer Worlds 2, NINJA GAIDEN 4, and High on Life 2 as soon as they are released.
- ONLINE CONSOLE MULTIPLAYER: Tap into the heart of the Xbox community and join millions of players ready to play together. Online console multiplayer is included with Game Pass Ultimate.
- EA PLAY MEMBERSHIP INCLUDED: Jump into Battlefield, STAR WARS, and other great game franchises with EA Play. Included at no extra cost, members get access to a collection of EA’s best-loved games, in-game rewards, and trials of select new games.
What did Microsoft and Activision argue?
Microsoft and Activision disputed the FTC’s broader account of likely competitive harm. Activision’s response argued that the deal would benefit consumers, that competition and entry by rivals would remain sufficient, that the FTC’s predicted harms were speculative, and that Microsoft’s contractual commitments concerning Call of Duty addressed the agency’s concerns. Activision’s answer to the FTC complaint records that position.
There was also a related economic debate in the United Kingdom. A filing in the FTC record reproduced Competition and Markets Authority analysis that Game Pass offered a different way to pay for content and would not necessarily be cheaper for every consumer. The CMA also reasoned that Microsoft might have an incentive to raise Game Pass’s price to reflect the added value of Activision content, potentially reducing or eliminating the benefit. That was UK regulatory analysis, not a ruling under U.S. law. The filing reproducing the CMA-related analysis provides that context.
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Who was most affected by the historical tier split?
Existing Console subscribers
They were the group most directly protected by reported grandfathering: they could reportedly keep the old Console plan with day-one releases. That did not necessarily guarantee identical treatment after cancellation, a payment failure, or an account change, so subscribers needed to check Microsoft’s terms for their specific eligibility.
New console subscribers
They could choose Standard for catalog access at the reported $14.99 monthly price, but not the old Console plan. Anyone prioritizing day-one first-party releases had to consider Ultimate and its higher price.
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Players focused on new releases
Ultimate was the relevant historical option for day-one access. Its increased price could make the subscription less attractive to someone whose main reason for joining was new first-party games.
Catalog-focused players
Standard could suit someone content to play games already in the catalog and willing to wait for some new first-party releases. Its value depended on what that person actually played, not simply the number of listed titles.
PC players
PC Game Pass was a separate plan from the console tiers. The reported move from $9.99 to $11.99 per month was scheduled for September 2024, so it should not be conflated with the Standard-versus-Ultimate console choice.
What happened to the FTC case?
The FTC’s criticism of Game Pass was advocacy in the merger dispute, not a final adjudication that Microsoft violated antitrust law through the subscription changes. As of the public FTC page’s last update on May 22, 2025, the Microsoft/Activision Blizzard administrative matter is listed as closed. That status is the relevant update to the 2024 news framing; it does not turn the FTC’s allegations about Game Pass into a court finding. The FTC case page gives the listed status.
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