Under EU law, companies must inform consumers in advance about service price increases.
Microsoft was unable to push through a Game Pass price increase in certain EU countries. One user in Poland reported that their subscription was set to auto-renew, yet on October 1 the company charged their card 63 Polish zloty (roughly $17) instead of the new rate of 115 zloty (about $31.66). The user said they received the following message from Xbox:
You may have recently heard about changes to Xbox Game Pass pricing. At the moment, this increase applies only to new purchases and will not affect your current subscription in your region if you are on a recurring plan. If you choose to cancel your existing plan and subscribe again, the new rate will apply. Should any changes be made to your account for any reason, we will notify you at least 60 days in advance. You can cancel or modify your plan at any time.
As some commenters point out, this is largely a matter of EU regulations: companies must give consumers 30–60 days’ notice before raising prices. The issue becomes even trickier for auto-renewing services like Game Pass, since providers generally cannot increase renewal charges without the user’s consent (as occurred in Germany).
Source: iXBT.games