Microsoft is reportedly debating putting Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass alongside a price hike to the subscription service. This comes from a new report at The Verge that follows news earlier this week that Xbox was closing some of its Bethesda studios, including Hi-Fi Rush team Tango Gameworks and Redfall developer Arkane Austin.
The Verge’s Tom Warren writes, “Microsoft has also had internal debates about whether to put new releases of Call of Duty into Game Pass. I understand this is a debate that has been ongoing internally for quite some time, with concerns from some that the revenue that Call of Duty typically generates for Activision Blizzard will be undermined by Game Pass.”
This touches on a potential issues players and analysts have pointed out with Xbox’s strategy. After spending billions on acquisitions in recent years, Xbox presumably needs to make more money. However, it’s big draw as a platform is Game Pass. Ideally, big new releases and critical hits, like Hi-Fi Rush and Call of Duty games, bring in large swaths of new subscribers, which offsets the loss of full-price sales that happens because of Game Pass. But Game Pass subscriptions have leveled off, with a peak around 2019 to 2021. If Game Pass isn’t getting new subscribers, and Game Pass releases hurt traditional sales of a game, it’s easy to see why the company might be debating internally about whether or not something like a new Call of Duty (almost always the best-selling game of any given year) should launch on Game Pass.
Alongside this debate, The Verge’s report states Microsoft has also considered increasing the price of Game Pass Ultimate again, noting that this and the Call of Duty discussion are just considerations and might remain that.
For more, read Game Informer’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III review, and then read about Xbox’s June games showcase and the secret (probably Call of Duty-focused) direct happening afterward.
[Source: The Verge]
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