The new Call of Duty is doing well in its first weekend and the direct release in Game Pass is also proving to be the right decision.
Almost a week ago, Black Ops 6, this year’s Call of Duty, was released and it made up for the rather unpopular Modern Warfare 3 from 2023. According to Activision, the first weekend got off to a very successful start, but Microsoft’s quarterly figures show that the numbers are also right.
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The most successful CoD launch to date
According to a post by the official Call of Duty X-account, Black Ops 6 celebrated the most successful launch weekend in the entire series. Never before have more players played a Call of Duty in the first few days and put so many hours into the game.
The numbers behind it
As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella explained in an investor call on the occasion of the quarterly figures, the launch of Black Ops 6 was an absolute record.
According to Nadella, sales on Valve’s Steam platform and on Sony’s PlayStation increased 60 percent year-over-year – and thus compared to Modern Warfare 3. This is also supported by the high number of players on Steam.
Game Pass launch pays off
Black Ops 6 is the first Call of Duty to be released on Microsoft’s subscription catalog on the same day as all other platforms. According to the Microsoft CEO, this led to the largest increase in subscribers on a single day.
Microsoft’s revenues in this area have increased by 43 percent, thanks in part to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Revenues from Xbox content and services rose by 61 percent, while Xbox hardware revenues fell by 29 percent.
Record for Call of Duty as a whole
According to a report in the Washington Post , sales of the entire CoD series have reached half a billion This makes Call of Duty one of the most successful video game series of all time, on par with Tetris and Pokémon. Only Nintendo’s entire Mario franchise has sold better.
Black Ops 6 will have its first new content this week. For example, there is a new map that is considered a true CoD classic. Plus, there is already a launch date for the first season with new maps, weapons, and modes. At the same time, integration into Warzone is also on the agenda. More information on this will be available in the Call of Duty Blog in the coming weeks.
