Microsoft is still trying to convince regulatory bodies about its intention to buy Activision Blizzard, which could be closer to completion if the European Commission approves it. The UK Markets and Competition Authority recently expressed concern about the possibility that the company decided to increase the price of its subscription plans of Xbox Game Pass after the merger with Activision, something that has been ruled out by Microsoft itself since it would be a counterproductive measure since it would cause a significant drop in subscribers.
“Game Pass prices will not increase as a result of the merger and will certainly they will not do so to the point of offsetting the substantial benefits of Activision titles that will arrive on Game Pass day after day.“The integration of Activision and Microsoft will result in a classic elimination of the double marginalization effect, since Microsoft will be able to acquire these games at an (opportunity) cost and will have incentives to distribute them more widely and increase production.” of Game Pass relative to its counterfactual level. To increase production, Microsoft will have to offer Game Pass at a lower quality-adjusted price, “he continues.
“This is exactly what Microsoft has done when adding content to Game Pass in the past with, for example, the ZeniMax transaction, which resulted in additional content but no increase in Game Pass subscription prices. This This is especially so since Game Pass users are sensitive to price and an increase in the price of Game Pass will affect all usersincluding those who do not value or play Call of Duty“says the company about the inclusion of Bethesda titles, among which are the games in the saga The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom y Dishonoredamong others.
Raising the price of Xbox Game Pass will not make sense for the annual launch of Call of Duty
“Game Pass subscribers can cancel anytime after a month of play. Like Game Pass titles, CoD are only released once a year, any impact would be short-lived, as players who exhaust their enthusiasm for the new version of CoD in a few months they will be unsubscribed due to the higher price,” he adds. “Therefore, any price increase would be counterproductive, as it will increase the subscriber turnover rate. This is completely contrary to the interim conclusion assessment of Microsoft’s justification for the merger,” she concludes.
