Microsoft is making a major pro-consumer change to its Xbox subscriptions - Sony should follow suit
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Microsoftwill be making several pro-consumer changes to itsXbox Live GoldandXbox Game Passsubscription services in the UK.
The changes will alter the services’ auto-renewal practices, and were agreed upon following an investigation into Microsoft,Sonyand Nintendo’s subscription services by the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA).
The CMA said it was particularly concerned that consumers found it unclear that membership to the subscriptions would automatically roll over at the end of each month, the difficulty consumers had in turning off auto-renewal, and that some hadn’t realised they were still paying for the services after their initial subscription period had ended.
As part of the agreement, Microsoft will be making changes to its refunds policy, changing the way information about auto-renewals is presented, contacting subscribers whose accounts have been dormant, and better signally price changes.
It’s committed to making the following changes:
“Gamers need to be given clear and timely information to make informed choices when signing up for auto-renewing memberships and subscriptions,” said Michael Grenfell, executive director of enforcement at the CMA.
“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.”
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Analysis: a small change makes a big difference
Auto-renewing subscriptions are one of the uglier aspects of modern gaming. If not carefully watched, they can quickly turn what should have been an affordable way of playing games into an expensive burden. There’s little worse than realizing you forgot to cancel yourXbox Game Passsubscription several months ago to find your wallet £50 lighter.
The changes Microsoft has committed to making here should go some way to alleviate those problems, especially the option to claim a refund on months you’ve mistakenly subscribed to.
There are limits to the changes, however. The pro-rata refund only applies to those who’ve taken out a 12-month subscription, so there’s nothing new to help players who signed up for less, such as a single month with which to test out the service. Equally, though Microsoft might better signal to new sign-ups that their subscription will automatically renew, there’s still no way of turning it off from the get-go. You’ll have to remember to opt-out of auto-renewal after the service is up and running.
For all its caveats, it’s a step in the right direction and one that Sony, too, will also hopefully make. The CMA’s original investigation concerned all three of the major gaming platforms, so it’s likely Sony and Nintendo will make similar changes to their services.
It’s not just gaming that suffers from pernicious subscription practices.Amazon has long been criticized by consumer rights groupsfor obscuring how users can cancel their Prime subscription. That journalists have to write guides instructing consumershow to cancel their Amazon Prime membershipis a sign that the process is buried too deep for the average person.
Callum is TechRadar Gaming’s News Writer. You’ll find him whipping up stories about all the latest happenings in the gaming world, as well as penning the odd feature and review. Before coming to TechRadar, he wrote freelance for various sites, including Clash, The Telegraph, and Gamesindustry.biz, and worked as a Staff Writer at Wargamer. Strategy games and RPGs are his bread and butter, but he’ll eat anything that spins a captivating narrative. He also loves tabletop games, and will happily chew your ear off about TTRPGs and board games.
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