Microsoft adjusts Xbox Live and Game Pass terms by British watchdog
Microsoft is making changes to Xbox Live and Game Pass subscriptions following complaints from UK market authority CMA. Subscribers will be better informed about automatic renewals and price increases and may request a refund in some cases.
The UK market authority CMA launched an investigation into subscription renewal practices from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft in 2019, and the UK market authority had some comments on the latter. For example, the CMA questioned whether it was clear to customers who had taken out an Xbox Live or Game Pass subscription that their subscription would be automatically renewed. The UK Market Authority was also concerned about how difficult it may or may not be to turn off automatic subscription renewals and wondered whether people would be aware of their subscriptions if they hadn’t used them for a long time. .
Microsoft has decided in concert with the CMA to address the concerns raised by the CMA. First of all, the US company will better inform customers of Xbox Live and Game Pass subscription services about their subscription and about its automatic renewal. Customers will also be more transparently informed about how to disable this automatic renewal, what date the next renewal will take effect, how much it will cost, and how to request a refund after an incorrect renewal.
The US company will also contact customers who have an automatically renewed annual subscription and give them the option to cancel their contract. In the event of a cancellation, they can also request a refund for the remaining unused months of their annual subscription.
Customers who have not used their Xbox Live or Game Pass subscription in a while, but are still paying, will also be notified by Microsoft in the future. The company will remind these customers that they can cancel their subscription and the company will explain how to do so on their own. If these customers stop using their subscription services after that, Microsoft will begin to refuse payments.
Finally, Microsoft will better inform its customers about future price increases. In this way, according to the CMA, customers should be able to better estimate whether they want an automatic renewal of the subscription or not.
The British market watchdog is pleased with the measures that Microsoft is taking and says that other companies with subscription services should also take a closer look at their practices. The measures will first be rolled out in the United Kingdom, but are expected in the rest of the world, according to The Verge.