Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launched day one on Game Pass — the first Call of Duty game to do so following Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
It was a big gamble for Microsoft, with some analysts predicting a significant decline in game sales, particularly on Xbox, as a result. But in its recent financial report, Microsoft sounded delighted with Black Ops 6’s early days performance, saying sales on PlayStation and PC were 60% higher compared to the 2023 release of Modern Warfare 3.
All eyes were on Black Ops 6’s impact on Game Pass, though. Growth in Microsoft’s subscription service has stalled in recent years, and the day one release of the latest entry in Activision’s phenomenally successful first-person shooter series was seen as a make or break moment for Game Pass.
Microsoft has yet to say exactly how many new subscribers Black Ops 6 brought through the door, although CEO Satya Nadella has confirmed that Game Pass set a record for new subs on launch day.
In an interview with the BBC, Treyarch associate creative director Miles Leslie, who has worked on Call of Duty for 16 years, said Black Ops 6’s release on Game Pass has helped convince players who were “on the fence” to give the game a shot.
“What we’ve seen is it’s allowed people that might have been on the fence, might have had some of that friction, might have been like, ‘I haven’t played in a while’ to actually come back and try the game,” he said.
That will be music to Microsoft’s ears, given it’s desperate to expand the Call of Duty audience in the long term. Analysts have suggested the company was willing to sacrifice Black Ops 6 launch sales on Xbox for a potential bigger overall player base, which it intends to monetize long-term with the release of battle passes and cosmetics.
“We’ve gotten to the point now where Black Ops and Call of Duty have been around so long – I’ve been working on it for 16 years,” Leslie added. “And really the challenge for us is how do you bring along the fans that love Call of Duty, but how do you create an environment where you can welcome new fans in?”
The trick now of course is to convince Game Pass players to stick around and keep paying that monthly subscription. To that end, Black Ops 6 Season 1 kicks off on November 14, and we’ve got all the details. Of course, this time next year fans will have another premium Call of Duty game to contend with, rumored to be a sequel to Black Ops 2.
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Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.