Has history proven the FTC was right? Last year’s tussle between the Federal Trade Commission and Microsoft was the highest profile legal battle in gaming history, as the US government agency tried to prove that buying Activision Blizzard would be bad for the industry and for consumers. The FTC lost its argument but as far as it’s concerned history has proven they were right.
‘Product degradation – removing the most valuable games from Microsoft’s new service – combined with price increases for existing users, is exactly the sort of consumer harm from the merger the FTC has alleged,’ reads the text. Call Of Duty has caused Game Pass prices to rise ‘Microsoft’s price increases and product degradation – combined with Microsoft’s reduced investments in output and product quality via employee layoffs – are the hallmarks of a firm exercising market power post-merger.