Microsoft


MSFT

is reportedly planning to raise prices of premium first-party gaming titles built for Xbox Series X|S at launch, per a IGN

report

.

The $10 bump in price to $70 will be applicable on next-generation games, including

Starfield, Redfall

and

Forza Motorsport

. The games will be available as part of Microsoft’s subscription service, Game Pass, for $9.99 a month on Windows and Xbox consoles.

Microsoft is following other big gaming rivals from Ubisoft Entertainment to

Sony


SONY

and Take-Two Interactive Software who have cited factors such as increased development costs and ongoing inflation as key reasons behind the jump.

Amid the price war, the company is also facing an anti-trust complaint from The U.S. Federal Trade Commission as it is likely to file a lawsuit to stop the $69 billion acquisition deal.

Microsoft Offers Sony a 10-Year Contract for

Call of Duty

Microsoft recently offered Sony a 10-year contract to make future

Call of Duty

games available on PlayStation if its proposed

Activision Blizzard


ATVI

acquisition goes ahead. It also states that Sony’s PlayStation remains the industry leader and not giving it access to games would ultimately cause a loss of revenues for Microsoft.

Sony previously claimed to Brazil’s regulatory body that the Activision Blizzard acquisition is anti-competitive as it could influence people to switch from PlayStation to Xbox and said that the

Call of Duty

series is on its own level of popularity and has been overwhelmingly the best-selling game in its genre.

On the brighter side, Microsoft achieved approval from Brazil’s competition authority as the latter stated that the company operates in a highly dynamic and competitive industry and that the merger will not harm competition in any way.

Microsoft claimed that the strategy of not releasing Activision Blizzard games on competing consoles would only be profitable if the games could draw a sizable number of players over to the Xbox ecosystem, resulting in revenues to make up for losses from not releasing these titles on competing consoles.

Although Sony has been slapped with a lawsuit for allegedly overcharging millions of its PlayStation customers in the United Kingdom by exploiting its market dominance.

Microsoft has alleged that Sony has been paying developers blocking fees to prevent games from appearing on Xbox Game Pass and other competing subscription services.

Microsoft is also contemplating making

Call of Duty

available on

Nintendo

’s

NTDOY

Nintendo Switch console, where the game isn’t currently available. If successfully done, this will help Nintendo boost its game line and attract players along with its existing hit franchises like

Brain Age, Kirby, Super Smash Bros, Pokémon

and

Mario.

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company also suggested that Ubisoft, Riot Games, Bandai Namco, and Google have all released competition to

Call of Duty

, with such titles as

Apex Legends, Battlefield, PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds

(PUBG) and more. You can see

the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here

.

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