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[jshackles]

Microsoft insists Game Pass prices ‘will not increase as a result of Activision merger’ | VGC

It says a price rise “would be counter-productive as it would increase subscriber churn rates”…

www.videogameschronicle.com

“Game Pass subscribers can cancel at any time after a month of play,” Microsoft continued. “As CoD titles are only released once a year, any impact would be short-lived as gamers who exhaust their enthusiasm for the new version of CoD within a few months will churn because of the higher price.

 

[Sanepar]

Sure...

 

[XXL]

It will even without the AB acquisition going through.

 

[remember_spinal]

Seems dumb to even try and promise that cause they’re gonna have to raise it eventually

 

[Punished Miku]

I'm sure it will eventually but they're probably still pretty early in a growth strategy honestly. I think they'd like to see a lot more than 25 million subs.

 

[feynoob]

they will increase it regardless of the purchase.
Gamepass is due to price increase soon.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Such blatant misdirection - sure, not as a result of the merger, but eventually they'll be increasing it either way whether they acquire them or not.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

I doubt they will increase the price, but I am certain they will close all the conversion loopholes

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

“Game Pass prices will not increase as a result of the Merger, and certainly will not increase to a point that offsets the substantial benefits of Activision titles coming to Game Pass on a day and date basis,”

They're refuting the notion that once the merger goes through that they'll suddenly jack up prices on everyone because people will somehow have no choice but to pay them. They're not saying the price of GP will never ever go up.

 

[Nautilus]

...For now.

 

[Dick Jones]

"Game Pass prices will not increase as a result of the Merger, and certainly will not increase to a point that offsets the substantial benefits of Activision titles coming to Game Pass on a day and date basis."

The first sentence here means it may increase the price but cite other factors factors than the Merger.

"And certainly will not increase to a point" means it is increasing the price. Why include that sentence if the price isn't increasing?

 

[NickFire]

They point to not raising prices after buying Bethesda for some reason per the article.

They must think Starfield launched in November 2022 I guess. How else would that be relevant?

 

[Captain Toad]

"Read my lips. No new taxes."

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Phil Spencer hints at a future Game Pass price hike

Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, has hinted at a possible price increase for Xbox Game Pass, games and consoles.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

 

[Eotheod]

Ah yes, the same old house is falling rhetoric when it comes to game pass and price. People been saying they are going to increase the price for how long? And have they? If it is so inevitable, how come it never seems to happen everytime someone says it will?

 

[sendit]

A raise was already implied by the great Phil Spencer, it's just a matter of when he will act on his promises.

https://www.ign.com/articles/phil-spencer-xbox-hardware-game-pass-price-rise

 

[NickFire]

Ah yes, the same old house is falling rhetoric when it comes to game pass and price. People been saying they are going to increase the price for how long? And have they? If it is so inevitable, how come it never seems to happen everytime someone says it will?

Look one post above yours. And what would the justification have been last year? Or the one prior?

 

[mitch1971]

We are not increasing the price of series X.

 

[Captain Toad]

Ah yes, the same old house is falling rhetoric when it comes to game pass and price. People been saying they are going to increase the price for how long? And have they? If it is so inevitable, how come it never seems to happen everytime someone says it will?

They just started raising the price of the Series X and then raised game prices. They were going to double the price of Gold before the massive backlash.

They obviously weren't going to raise the price in 2022 when they had no new first-party games. The test will come the months after big hitters release such as Starfield and, more importantly, a new CoD.

 

[Saber]

It will increase, regardless of this merging goes up or not.
No way they wouldn't with their top games going there day one.

 

[reinking]

Reading this headline, it jumps out at me how little I trust Xbox these days.

 

[Captain Toad]

It will increase, regardless of this merging goes up or not.
No way they wouldn't with their top games going there day one.

You think? It's already $180 a year. This is comparison to $99 for PS+ Extra and $55 for NSO+Expansion.

 

[Robb]

Might not be as a direct result of the merger, but it’ll definitely happen either way.

 

[MOTM]

Some people have been waiting on the sidelines for 6 years now waiting for the day they increase the price by $1 to create a 24 page thread.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

You think? It's already $180 a year. This is comparison to $99 for PS+ Extra and $55 for NSO+Expansion.

Sony and Nintendo treat their subscription as supplementary income. Xbox is planning to treat Gamepass as primary income. The issue is they had to pay third parties their cut.

 

[ReBurn]

How is something not becoming more expensive news?

 

[Lasha]

Game prices already increased without the merger after the market leader raised them.

 

[Neofire]

MS counting their chickens before the eggs hatch huh

 

[Saber]

You think? It's already $180 a year. This is comparison to $99 for PS+ Extra and $55 for NSO+Expansion.

Pretty much what D DeltaPolarBear said. Those are support methods(people already have the games, this is just as an additional if they want), not necessarally their main income strategy.
Microsoft treat those as their main thing in their ecosystem.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

Game prices already increased without the merger after the market leader raised them.

'If MS become market leader, they might do what Sony did!'

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

as a result of Activision merger*​

*not accounting market and economic pressures.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

I know most of the thread is playing console wars like good little warriors, but the statements are pretty straight forward. They won’t raise the price because of the merger, and when the price does go up, it won’t be so much that it will offset the benefits of the merger to customers.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I know most of the thread is playing console wars like good little warriors, but the statements are pretty straight forward. They won’t raise the price because of the merger, and when the price does go up, it won’t be so much that it will offset the benefits of the merger to customers.

then read between the lines.

because of the merger.


what about other factors like economic pressures and "market conditions" that is the spin.

 

[Chukhopops]

Ah yes, the same old house is falling rhetoric when it comes to game pass and price. People been saying they are going to increase the price for how long? And have they? If it is so inevitable, how come it never seems to happen everytime someone says it will?

Yeah it’s a very tired argument. Ironically everything else became more expensive over the last five years (games, consoles, controllers) while GP did not.

Almost as if its primary purpose is to get people in the ecosystem….

 

[MarkMe2525]

Seems dumb to even try and promise that cause they’re gonna have to raise it eventually

Eventually they will for sure, but they also are not promising anything in this.

 

[phaedrus]

"Read my lips. No new taxes."

 

[feynoob]

then read between the lines.

because of the merger.


what about other factors like economic pressures and "market conditions" that is the spin.

This quote is just for regulators.
Gamepass price increase won't happen due to this purchase.
But they will definitely do 1$-3$ increase in the future like Netflix and Disney plus.

 

[bluecowboys]

Looks like this deal is going through. Just look at how desperate Sony is by saying "Microsoft will release a buggy version of COD on playstation" even though there is parity contracts and MS released multiple games on playstation that is equal to Xbox.

 

[LordCBH]

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

Looks like this deal is going through. I mean, look how desperate Sony looks by saying "Microsoft will release a buggy version of COD on playstation" even though there is parity contracts and MS released multiple games on playstation that is equal to Xbox.

I’m not so sure, I think Sony have lobbied the CMA quite successfully. The regulator seems keen to maintain the status quo regardless of MS proposed resolutions.

That being said, I think the CMA have got it wrong.

 

[bluecowboys]

I’m not so sure, I think Sony have lobbied the CMA quite successfully. The regulator seems keen to maintain the status quo regardless of MS proposed resolutions.

That being said, I think the CMA have got it wrong.

It's just a bluff to seem big just like the FTC "suing" MS but not taking them to court. It is all for show and this deal will pass at the end of the day.
If every other country, major unions and almost every company agrees with this deal except UK they would look bias and corrupt. Worse thing UK could do is fine MS or block Activision games.

Blocking MS will never happen as there are too many jobs and businesses that depend on Microsoft. Microsoft is one of the biggest if not THE biggest B2B company. Github, Window computers, Azure, MS office, Linkedin, etc is something every major business depends on to operate and UK is no exception.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

then read between the lines.

because of the merger.


what about other factors like economic pressures and "market conditions" that is the spin.

I don’t know what you are trying to say here.

Yes, we all know MS will raise the price of GamePass. MS themselves have talked about it. What they’re saying here is they aren’t going to raise it because of the merger.

 

[adamsapple]

Seems dumb to even try and promise that cause they’re gonna have to raise it eventually

They're not saying they'll never increase the price, they're saying the price won't increase because of the merger. A lot of people on this forum also said things like how the price will increase as soon as the merger completes. That's what they're addressing here.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

It's just a bluff to seem big just like the FTC "suing" MS but not taking them to court. It is all for show and this deal will pass at the end of the day.
If every other country, major unions and almost every company agrees with this deal except UK they would look bias and corrupt. Worse thing UK could do is fine MS or block Activision games.

Blocking MS will never happen as there are too many jobs and businesses that depend on Microsoft. Microsoft is one of the biggest if not THE biggest B2B company. Github, Window computers, Azure, MS office, Linkedin, etc is something every major business depends on to operate and UK is no exception.

I hope you’re right as I think it would be a net positive for consumers. I guess we’ll wait and see.

 

[SRTtoZ]

This is semantics. It will increase at some point, but they're saying it won't be because of a merger.

 

[bluecowboys]

MS can only increase the price so much before consumers leave. Even if MS had a "monopoly". MS will have to find that sweet spot where they can charge the most without losing too many customers and make the most profit.

 

[remember_spinal]

They're not saying they'll never increase the price, they're saying the price won't increase because of the merger. A lot of people on this forum also said things like how the price will increase as soon as the merger completes. That's what they're addressing here.

Doesn’t even make a difference, a price increase is a price increase no one will be able to prove whether or not its because of Activision unless they do it before the merger is complete

 

[DeepEnigma]

as a result of Activision merger*​

*not accounting market and economic pressures.

Yep.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I don’t know what you are trying to say here.

Yes, we all know MS will raise the price of GamePass. MS themselves have talked about it. What they’re saying here is they aren’t going to raise it because of the merger.

This quote is just for regulators.
Gamepass price increase won't happen due to this purchase.
But they will definitely do 1$-3$ increase in the future like Netflix and Disney plus.

and what do you think companies increase prices?


Inflation
Increased demand
Higher production costs
Changes in competition
Introduction of new features or upgrades

MS can literally rise GP prices due the merger BUT say is for another reason.

 

[remember_spinal]

and what do you think companies increase prices?


Inflation
Increased demand
Higher production costs
Changes in competition
Introduction of new features or upgrades

MS can literally rise GP prices due the merger BUT say is for another reason.

Right, we’ll never know either way, they don’t even disclose profits, subs, console or software sales they can say whatever they want and we will never know.