However, the online success of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 could also result in “a drop in sales”, warns one of…

Analysts believe the immediate release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on Game Pass will probably result in millions of new subscribers. GamesIndustry.biz asked several senior analysts how they think the release will affect Game Pass subscriptions. Although the answers varied, the consensus was that the increase would be in the millions.

Piers Harding-Rolls, senior game analyst at Ampere, told the publication that he believes the release of Black Ops 6 will result in a 10% increase in Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. This represents approximately 2.5 million new registrations.

However, he notes that “a good chunk” of those won’t be brand new Game Pass subscribers but will likely be switching from Game Pass Core or Game Pass Standard, neither of which will offer Black Ops 6 on launch day.

Wedbush Securities managing director Michael Pachter said he thinks Xbox could get as many as 3-4 million new Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions due to the release of Black Ops 6, but cautioned that he also predicts about 6 million fewer “traditional” sales of the game ( as many existing Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will also want to play it).

According to Pachter, the deal is “good overall for Microsoft and for consumers” but noted that “the headline will say ‘Call of Duty sales are down'”.

Harding-Rolls added that while, on paper, bundling Black Ops 6 with Game Pass Ultimate would result in a drop in sales of the game, the live service nature of the game means Xbox may be hoping that some Game Pass players will be encouraged to spend more money on microtransactions.

“There is no doubt that adding the latest Call of Duty will be expensive, at least initially, for Microsoft,” he told GI.biz. “However, Call of Duty is increasingly a live-service game first and foremost that monetises strongly in-game.”

“Microsoft will be trading premium full-game sales in exchange for a bigger audience that can be monetised in-game instead.”

Players can pre-load Black Ops 6 now ahead of its release on October 25th. The game will be available for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC platforms on the Microsoft Store, Battle.net, and Steam, as well as Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz