Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was released on October 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X. The first-person shooter also became the first ever Call of Duty game to be available on Xbox Game Pass on launch day. Microsoft expects the addition of Black Ops 6 to Game Pass to increase subscriptions to its service. Industry analysts have provided an estimate of the growth the company can expect. The latest Call of Duty could reportedly add up to four million new Game Pass subscribers.
Analysts expect Black Ops 6 to boost Game Pass
GamesIndustry.biz spoke with several analysts about the likely impact of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 joining Xbox Game Pass on day one. Most said the game would add millions of new subscribers to the service, but sales of the popular military shooter would take a hit as a result.
According to a report published last week, Wedbush CEO Michael Pachter expects Black Ops 6 to add three to four million new Game Pass subscribers. However, he also claimed that access to Game Pass could result in a loss of up to six million sales of the game. This was based on the assumption that 25 percent of Game Pass subscribers would buy the game anyway.
Other analysts also echoed a similar view in the report, but some were more conservative about Call of Duty attracting new players to Microsoft’s game subscription service. Ampere chief gaming analyst Piers Harding-Rolls said he expects a 10 percent increase in Game Pass Ultimate subscribers following the launch of Black Ops 6. That increase, he said, would include new subscribers and those upgrading from Game Pass Core and Game Pass Standard tiers , which don’t come with day one launch for first-party Xbox games.
An analyst told GamesIndustyr.biz that Call of Duty on Game Pass will hurt the game’s sales and cost Microsoft initially, but the game’s monetization opportunities will likely reach a larger audience with Game Pass. “There’s no doubt that adding the latest Call of Duty will be expensive, at least initially, for Microsoft. However, Call of Duty is increasingly becoming a live service game that brings in a lot of in-game money. Microsoft will trade premium sales of full games in exchange for a larger audience that can be monetized in-game,” he said.
According to the report, all analysts believe that the long-term success of Call of Duty’s move to Game Pass will depend on whether Microsoft can keep those players on the subscription service after the launch of Black Ops 6. Many players may leave Game Pass or downgrade their subscription level after the game in Black Ops 6.
Earlier this year, Xbox president Sarah Bond confirmed that Game Pass had reached 34 million subscribers. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available on Game Pass Ultimate on Xbox, PC and in the cloud.
Microsoft acquired Call of Duty maker Activision-Blizzard late last year in a $69 billion deal after a lengthy regulatory battle with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority. Earlier this year, the company said it would begin adding Activision games to Game Pass, starting with Diablo IV.