Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was the biggest Call of Duty release ever, with sales on PlayStation and Steam up 60 percent compared to 2023's Modern Warfare III . Game Pass also benefited from Call of Duty's release, setting a new record for amount of new subscribers in a single day. Call of Duty Black Ops 6 launch last week saw strong concurrents on Steam that outperformed Modern Warfare II and III .
The leap in subscribers would seem to validate Xbox's big bet in launching Black Ops 6 straight into Game Pass, giving the service a shot in the arm in the midst of its recent growth struggles . Analysts predicted that Black Ops 6 could boost Game Pass subscribers by between 2.5 million and 4 million , but at the cost of traditional sales.
But for now at least, Black Ops 6 seems to be doing just fine amid strong overall reviews , though it currently sits at "Mixed" on Steam owing to complaints about multiplayer lag and map balance. Nadella announced the results during today's Microsoft earnings, which as usual focused heavily on the company's AI and cloud-based initiatives. According to Microsoft, Activision Blizzard helped drive a 43 percent rise in gaming revenue while Xbox content and services grew 61 percent.
Xbox hardware dropped 29 percent. In the wake of its successful release, Black Ops 6 looks to continue its momentum with the release of Nuketown later this week. A wealth of content is also planned for Season 1, which arrives on November 14,.
