Summary
- Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard brought speculation on Xbox Game Pass, with the debut of Diablo 4.
- Releasing Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass could attract new subscribers, but might affect sales on Xbox consoles.
- Microsoft faces a decision to either double down on Xbox Game Pass or consider alternatives for its success.
From the moment Microsoft expressed its intentions to acquire Activision-Blizzard back in January 2022, the immediate question on everyone's mind was what this could mean for Xbox Game Pass. Coming up on its fifth anniversary at that point, Xbox Game Pass had well and truly established itself as one of the best offers in all of gaming, and the idea of adding Activision-Blizzard's entire catalog of past and future games was an extremely exciting one.
However, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard took a little longer than expected, and as the legal situation surrounding it became more unclear, as did the role Xbox Game Pass would play in the merger. In October of last year, the acquisition went through, and in March 2024, the first Activision-Blizzard game since the acquisition - Diablo 4 - came to Xbox Game Pass. But there's still a whole lot of uncertainty surrounding Microsoft's plans for Activision-Blizzard and Xbox Game Pass, and more specifically, what the company plans on doing with the juggernaut Call of Duty franchise.
Best Multiplayer Games On Xbox Game Pass
Xbox Game Pass features a trove of multiplayer titles, both competitive and co-op. These are the best of them.
Releasing Call of Duty 2024 on Xbox Game Pass Could be a Double-Edged Sword for Microsoft
By far the biggest asset for Activision-Blizzard right now, there's been a lot of speculation surrounding Call of Duty and the potential for its back-catalog to appear on Xbox Game Pass along with future titles appearing on the service day-one. But that debate may finally be coming to an end soon. According to a very recent Wall Street Journal report, Microsoft is allegedly planning to put 2024's Call of Duty entry on Xbox Game Pass on launch day, and an official announcement is apparently set to occur during Xbox's June 9 Showcase. Obviously, from a consumer perspective, it would be ideal to be able to play Call of Duty for a much cheaper price on release, but for Microsoft, that decision isn't nearly as simple.
The Pros of Releasing Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass for Microsoft
The greatest benefit of putting Call of Duty 2024 on Xbox Game Pass is that it will undoubtedly bring in a new swathe of subscribers, and likely keep a few long-time subscribers signed up. Depending on Microsoft's current business strategy, that reason alone could be worth the gamble. Over the last few months, there have been a few conflicting reports centering around Xbox Game Pass' assumed success, or lack thereof. Back in February, Microsoft confirmed that Xbox Game Pass had surpassed 34 million active subscribers, which is just under a 40% increase from 2022's 25 million subscribers, seemingly suggesting that the service is continuing to be successful.
However, more recent reports have suggested that while Xbox Game Pass has been steadily growing over the years, that growth hasn't been nearly enough to offset the costs of development, or the drop in revenue that putting games on the service day-one results in. According to some reports, that's a core reason behind the recent closures of talented studios like Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin.
So Microsoft really has two options ahead of it. Either it decides to axe Xbox Game Pass altogether and confirm it hasn't quite worked it, or it doubles down even further. And the best way to double down is by putting Call of Duty 2024 on Xbox Game Pass day-one. This would show that Microsoft is determined to make Xbox Game Pass a success, and that type of support could be great for the brand in the long run. Additionally, with potentially an even bigger player-base than ever before, Call of Duty 2024 could end up earning quite a bit of extra cash via its Battle Pass and microtransactions.
The Cons of Releasing Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass for Microsoft
Of course, the biggest con to Microsoft releasing Call of Duty 2024 day-one on Xbox Game Pass is something that's been alluded to already, and that's potentially the lower sales of the game on Xbox consoles due to players instead picking it up on Game Pass for no extra charge. But that might not actually be as big of a deal as some fans might think. Back in July 2023, Derek Strickland collated some of the data relayed by former Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick on Call of Duty's player-base. According to this data, just 8% of Call of Duty's monthly active player-base were on Xbox platforms.
If these statistics are still accurate, then Microsoft might not actually see much of a loss from putting Call of Duty on Game Pass, as those on other platforms are likely to stay loyal to their platform of choice and still buy it at full price there. But the real issue is if Call of Duty 2024 is on PC Game Pass as well, as according to these stats, 25% of CoD players are on PC.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the highest tier of Microsoft's flagship game subscription service that offers over 100 game titles that you can play with a single purchase, making it one of the most outstanding value propositions of the Xbox ecosystem to date.
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info