Overview

• Microsoft lifted Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to $30/£23 per month, a 50% increase announced this week.
• Lina Khan said the Activision deal has been followed by price hikes and layoffs, calling the pattern a sign of a "too-big-to-care" firm.
• Bloomberg reported Microsoft forfeited more than $300 million in full-price Call of Duty sales by putting last year’s entry on Game Pass, with 82% of U.S. launch-month full-price sales on PlayStation.
• The $70 billion acquisition closed in October 2023 after a court denied the FTC’s injunction, and the Commission later dropped its appeal in 2025.
• Since closing, Microsoft has laid off thousands in its gaming business and, according to industry reports, closed studios and canceled projects.