Black Ops 6 "biggest Call of Duty release" in franchise history, says Microsoft CEO

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Black Ops 6 "biggest Call of Duty release" in franchise history, says Microsoft CEO

Microsoft has announced that last week's launch of Black Ops 6 was the "biggest Call of Duty release ever" and that Xbox Game Pass has also smashed records.

Tom West

Published 31 Oct 2024

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We've seen a flood of players jumping in to collect the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 achievements on Xbox, and it sounds like the game is just as popular on other platforms too, with Microsoft head Satya Nadella calling Black Ops 6 the "biggest Call of Duty release ever." Alongside Black Ops 6 setting a new record for "Game Pass subscriber adds on launch day" (a record previously held by Starfield), Xbox Game Pass has also set records for the most active users in the quarter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 sets new records for the franchise and Xbox Game Pass

"Last week's launch of Black Ops 6 was the biggest Call of Duty release ever, setting a record for day one players as well as Game Pass subscriber adds on launch day. And unit sales on PlayStation and Steam were also up over 60% year-over-year," Nadella said during Microsoft's Q1 FY2025 earnings call. "This speaks to our strategy of meeting gamers where they are by enabling them to play more games across the screens they spend their time on. In closing, we are rapidly innovating to expand our opportunity across our commercial and consumer businesses."

Nadella didn't provide any figures to corroborate the record-breaking claims, but our data indicates that Call of Duty's Xbox player count has spiked by 159% since Black Ops 6 launched last week. Additionally, the Call of Duty X account shared that Black Ops 6 now holds the record for the most total players, most hours played, and most matches played during its three-day opening weekend. Again, we haven't seen any figures, but it certainly appears like the game is a hit with fans.

Black Ops 6 has helped Microsoft's subscription service set new records too. Not only did the latest Call of Duty lead to the most "Game Pass subscriber adds on launch day," but Nadella says, "We set new records for monthly active users in the quarter as more players than ever play our games across devices and on the Xbox platform. Game Pass also set a new Q1 record for total revenue and average revenue per subscriber."

Elsewhere in the earnings call, Microsoft said that despite Xbox hardware revenue falling 29% year-on-year, the company's gaming revenue is up 43% year-on-year, while Xbox content and services revenue has also increased 61% year-on-year. A good chunk of those gains can be attributed to Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year, which saw money-making machines like Call of Duty, Diablo, and World of Warcraft join Microsoft's first-party library.

With Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 setting new records, it looks like we might have a new addition to our list of the best Game Pass games.
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Written by Tom West
Tom has been playing video games since he was old enough to hold a controller, experimenting with a number of systems until he eventually fell in love with Xbox. With a passion for the platform, he decided to make a career out of it, and now happily spends his days writing about that which he loves. If he’s not hunting for Xbox achievements, you’ll likely find him somewhere in The Elder Scrolls Online or fighting for survival in Battlefield.