Microsoft calls the FTC's statements "misleading", 

Last week, along with marketing Game Pass through the Amazon Fire TV Stick, Microsoft made changes to its subscription service, which also included a price hike, a new tier, and the omission of Game Pass on Console for new members. With these alterations, Xbox sees itself potentially back in the courtrooms, as the Federal Trade Commission has once again stepped in to call Microsoft's changes the form of consumer harm they warned about during the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. 

The FTC filed a letter to the US Court of Appeals, with their primary concern being the removal of Game Pass For Console and the "Standard tier", which at $14.99USD a month removes day one games. In a letter shared to Tom Warren of The Verge, Microsoft's legal team considers the FTC's statement and position "misleading".

Microsoft has responded to the FTC's filing about Xbox Game Pass price increases. It calls the FTC's letter a "misleading, extra-record account of the facts" and says the FTC is wrong to call Game Pass Standard a “degraded” version because it includes multiplayer https://t.co/ocS9yfwSix pic.twitter.com/QXUoViUpoL

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) July 19, 2024

"It is wrong to call this a 'degraded' version of the discontinued Game Pass for Console offering," the company's statement declares. 

"Setting aside that it is common for businesses to change service offerings over time, the FTC's case in all [emphasis original] of its alleged markets has always been premised on vertical foreclosure, i.e. that Microsoft would withhold Call of Duty from rivals and therefore harm competition," Microsoft's letter continues to read.

"But even in the alleged subscription market, Call of Duty is not being withheld from anyone who wants it... And there remains no evidence anywhere of harm to competition: Sony's subscription service continues to thrive, even as they put few new games into their subscription day-and-day, unlike Microsoft."

The FTC and Microsoft battled last year over the legitimacy of fair business practices following the $69 billion dollar blockbuster purchase of Activision Blizzard King. California Judge Jacqueline Scott Corely denied the preliminary injunction from the Federal Trade Commission, and perhaps they were looking to get their pound of flesh back. Xbox, seeing heavy restructuring in the last few months and has led to layoffs and studio closures, seem to have been shaping their mission statement to maximize the new studio and publishing assets, as they have quite a ways to go make profits on this hefty investment. 

Have they rushed to reformat Game Pass, which is considered a money maker for them...? or is the FTC misguided in their focus to derail Microsoft yet again?