Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 could boost Game Pass subscribers by 2.5m to 4m

gamesindustry.biz:

The launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 into Game Pass will hurt sales of the game, but will see millions of subscribers flock to Xbox's service, leading analysts say.

However, the true success won't be immediately known, as it'll depend on whether Xbox can keep subscribers within the service in the months following the game's launch.

Wedbush boss Michael Pachter believes that putting Call of Duty in Game Pass could result in up to six million lost sales, based on the idea that 25% of Game Pass subscribers may have bought the game anyway. However, he adds that the move could result in between three to four million people signing up to Game Pass to access the title.

"Good overall for Microsoft and for consumers," he told us. "But the headline will say 'Call of Duty sales are down'."

Who will buy COD?

We conducted a survey with our friends at IGN. Based on readers of the IGN homepage, and looking purely at those intending to acquire Black Ops 6, 70% of readers who plan to get the game say they're already subscribers to Game Pass and will acquire it that way.

Meanwhile, nearly 8% said they plan to get Game Pass in order to play the next Call of Duty.

In terms of IGN's YouTube Audience, 63% of those who plan to play Black Ops 6 are already Game Pass subscribers, with again nearly 8% planning to get Game Pass to experience the title (the remaining respondents will get the game 'the old fashioned way').

IGN's audience is a specific one and not reflective of all gamer audiences, but it's clear Game Pass will be a popular place to experience this year's release.

Ampere's chief games analyst Piers Harding-Rolls is a little more conservative, and believes that Call of Duty will result in a 10% increase in Game Pass Ultimate subscribers (so 2.5 million). He also says that not all of those will be completely new users, as it will include those upgrading from Game Pass Core and Game Pass Standard (Call of Duty will only be available in the 'Ultimate' tier). In fact, he feels a 'good