Rumours from a highly credible source, The Wall Street Journal, suggest that Microsoft plans to release this year’s Call of Duty directly to Game Pass from day one.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a site not known for getting its facts wrong, Microsoft plans to make this power move official during its June showcase, when it will announce it to the world.
Over the last few years, Microsoft has been putting lots of eggs into the Game Pass basket. As it acquired studios like Bethesda and Obsidian, more and more new games have been made available through the subscription service.
However, Call of Duty is in another league altogether. It’s one of the single most profitable properties, and let’s face it, it’s the core driving force behind Microsoft’s push to buy Activision Blizzard and then shut down all the other game studios that came with the deal.
So, having Call of Duty on Game Pass is a surefire way to bring value to the service and a sort of Hail Mary. At the moment, it’s hard to look at anything that Microsoft does without remembering that they’ve done little else than close beloved studios lately.
And a big reason why studio after studio is being forced to close its doors comes down to that sweet $70 billion Microsoft paid for its golden goose, Call of Duty—sorry, Activision Blizzard.
It’s also worth noting that the Xbox Series consoles have been underperforming, to put it mildly, having moved barely half the units that Sony has with their PlayStation 5.
These struggles have also affected Game Pass, a service that, according to The Verge, failed to meet its subscriber growth targets in 2021, 2022, and 2023. This means that there is a great deal riding on Microsoft’s releasing Call of Duty to Game Pass on day one.
What do you make of all this? Is Call of Duty on Game Pass a sign of the future or a move that stinks of raw desperation on Microsoft’s part? Let me know in the comments.