The successful video game series “Call of Duty” will be available and playable in Game Pass straight away when it is released this year. Owners of Microsoft’s game pass can play the game right from the start as part of their subscription at no additional cost. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Microsoft plans to announce the inclusion of COD in Game Pass at the annual Xbox Games Showcase on June 9th. This is what people familiar with the matter say.
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Microsoft is hoping for an increase in Game Pass users
The first-person shooter series “Call of Duty” was the biggest point of contention between Microsoft and Sony as part of their $69 billion Activision takeover. However, Microsoft assured early on that the annual titles would continue to be published for the PlayStation – for at least ten years. Since the takeover of Activision-Blizzard, only Diablo 4 of the current top titles has made it into Game Pass. According to the WSJ, with the inclusion of “Call of Duty” in the paid subscription service, Microsoft expects more and new paying users.
Last September, the release of “Starfield” in Game Pass on the release date attracted a record number of new subscribers in a single day. “Call of Duty” is one of the most successful entertainment products and an average of 25 million copies of each part of the shooter have been sold in recent years. A purchase – including on Microsoft systems – is still possible. Also, only the basic version of the game will probably be available in Game Pass without additional cosmetic items. The different versions of the game with various additional digital content cost between 79 euros (base game) and 109 euros in the past.
Subscription model – negative impact on value creation for top titles
In a court hearing regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) lawsuit against the Activision-Blizzard deal, longtime Activision boss Bobby Kotick expressed his “dislike of the idea of multigame subscription services” and Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick said, that subscriptions are okay for catalog games, but not for new releases, reports the WSJ. Analysts see a major risk of cannibalization in releasing top games that still fetch top prices. “We strongly believe that a general industry shift to a subscription model would negatively impact publisher value creation,” TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz wrote in his final report on Activision last year.
On the other hand, Microsoft is not in a position to include its own top titles in Game Pass immediately upon release if other game manufacturers are to follow suit. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter sees the addition of “Call of Duty” to the game’s launch as a signal to publishers that Microsoft is betting on the subscription strategy.
2024 “Call of Duty: Black Ops”?
“Call of Duty” has not yet been announced for 2024, which usually appears in the fall. According to rumors, developer Treyarch is working on a new “Black Ops” part. The story is said to revolve around a conflict in the Gulf War. Supposedly, the upcoming title will also be an open world for the first time, in which you can explore the game world with vehicles – the missions should continue to run linearly. On the Xbox Game Showcase on June 9th According to reports, the 2024 “Call of Duty” will also be presented.
(bme)