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A deal with a UK regulator will bring greater flexibility to Microsoft’s subscription-based services.
Following an investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, Microsoft has said it will make changes to its Game Pass program that will make it easier for subscribers to cancel the service, and will stop taking payments for subscriptions that go dormant.
The CMA said that it first «identified concerns about certain features of Microsoft’s auto-renewing subscriptions» as part of a wider investigation into online gaming. Those concerns included clarity about automatic subscription renewal, ease of disabling automatic renewals, and whether customers may be unwittingly paying for old subscriptions that they were no longer using.
As a result, Microsoft has now committed to making changes to its Game Pass and Xbox Live services, including:
«Gamers need to be given clear and timely information to make informed choices when signing up for auto-renewing memberships and subscriptions,» CMA executive director of enforcement Michael Grenfell said. «We are therefore pleased that Microsoft has given the CMA these formal undertakings to improve the fairness of their practices and protect consumers, and will be offering refunds to certain customers.»
Grenfell also warned that other companies offering subscriptions based services «should take note and review their practices to ensure they comply with consumer protection law.»
It’s a situation a lot of us have likely been in at least once in our lives: Paying for services we’re not using for months on end, because we’ve forgotten about them or it’s just too much of a pain in the ass to cancel on the rare occasions that they come to mind. Either way, it’s money wasted, and while the CMA announcement is short on specifics—there’s no indication as to exactly how long «a long time» is, for instance—it’s a move in the right direction.
The CMA is a UK-based agency, but a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed in an email to PC Gamer that the subscription policy changes will be applied internationally. «Changes to inactive subscriptions will initially roll out in the UK and will be available globally soon,» the representative said.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer recently said that he doesn’t view subscriptions as a replacement for conventional purchases, but there’s no question that Game Pass is big business for Microsoft. The service recently surpassed 25 million subscribers and that number is bound to continue going up as Microsoft adds newly-acquired Activision Blizzard games to its lineup.
Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.
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