Key Takeaways
- Microsoft reportedly plans to launch the next Call of Duty installment on Game Pass day-and-date.
- This move will be a major shift from previous practices and reflects Microsoft’s priorities.
- Xbox chief Phil Spencer hinted at the plan earlier this winter.
Since Microsoft purchased Blizzard Activision and took ownership of the Call of Duty franchise, there have been questions about whether Microsoft would bring future entries in series to PlayStation and whether future titles might be day-and-date launches on Xbox GamePass. The answer to the former is that for now at least PS4 and PS5 players will indeed continue to enjoy access. On Friday, the answer to the latter question finally emerged as well.
A report from The Wall Street Journal details how, after quite a bit of back and forth about the future of the Call of Duty franchise internally, Microsoft plans to launch the next installment in the series on GamePass the same day it arrives on store shelves and digital storefronts. Assuming Xbox goes through with the plan, the move would be a major shift from what Activision did in the past and signal Microsoft’s priorities.
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Microsoft makes sharp shift in Call of Duty strategy
Day and date arrival on GamePass is a game changer
Xbox
Before Activision’s takeover by Microsoft, the publisher largely frowned at putting Call of Duty games on subscription services anywhere near their launch date. Some of the iterations in the series have eventually landed on Game Pass and PS Plus, but generally, it took a long time for them to reach either service.
However, Xbox chief Phil Spener suggested the company has been planning on bringing future Call of Duty day and date to Game Pass since the acquisition. Back in February, he made it about as clear as he possibly could when he said, “our intent is the full portfolio of games from ZeniMax, Activision Blizzard and XGS — Xbox Game Studios — will be on Game Pass, day one.”
Even with those stated intentions, there were plenty in the gaming community who believed Call of Duty could be the outlier simply because of its ability to generate massive sales year after year.
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It appears that Microsoft is more interested in adding Game Pass subscribers than it is with ensuring a new game breaks sales records.
Spencer will almost certainly shed more light on his plans for the next Call of Duty games and Game Pass during the company’s June 9 showcase. After making announcements and previews of upcoming games, Xbox has said it will stage a separate show focusing on “a beloved franchise.”
The franchise in question is widely believed to be Call of Duty, and now it appears the company will almost surely make an official announcement.
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