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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has blasted Microsoft\u2019s Xbox Game Pass price increases in a filing<\/a> to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Microsoft revealed last week that it\u2019s increasing PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate prices<\/a>, and planning to launch a new Game Pass Standard tier soon without day one access to first-party Xbox games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The FTC calls this new Game Pass Standard tier a \u201cdegraded product,\u201d because new Game Pass users won\u2019t be able to sign up to the $10.99 Game Pass for Console, which includes day one game access. Instead, Xbox Game Pass Standard will be priced at $14.99 and won\u2019t include day one games, but will include online multiplayer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMicrosoft\u2019s price increases and product degradation \u2014 combined with Microsoft\u2019s reduced investments in output and product quality via employee layoffs \u2014 are the hallmarks of a firm exercising market power post-merger,\u201d says FTC in a filing today. \u201cProduct degradation \u2014 removing the most valuable games from Microsoft\u2019s new service \u2014 combined with price increases for existing users, is exactly the sort of consumer harm from the merger the FTC has alleged.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n