

That confirmation runs counter to claims Xbox head Phil Spencer made in 2018 that Game Pass boosts sales rather than undermines them. "Microsoft also submitted that its internal analysis shows a % decline in base game sales twelve months following their addition on Game Pass," the CMA noted in its report. The UK Competition and Markets Authority's provisional report on the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard acquisition includes an admission from Microsoft that putting games into its Game Pass subscription service cannibalizes sales of those titles.
