Latest ‘Call of Duty’ Release Tests Microsoft’s Videogame Plans

With Microsoft completing its mega A$104.21 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year, it’s now time for the company to begin leveraging that deal.

Activision Blizzard is the publisher of “Call of Duty” and the latest instalment of the game, Black Ops 6, is now available on Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription service.

In Australia, a Game Pass Ultimate subscription costs A$22.95 a month, while Game Pass Console subscribers can use a cheaper A$10.95 monthly Game Pass Core subscription to access the online game mode.

Microsoft hopes that the latest release will help it get one step closer to achieving its target of reaching 110 million Game Pass subscribers by 2030, more than triple the 34 million subscribers it had in February this year.

If that number seems ambitious, it’s worth remembering that an estimated 3.1 billion people play videogames worldwide, according to analytics firm Aldora Intelligence.

Research has pointed out that 81 per cent of Aussies play video games as of last year, up 21 per cent since 2021. On average, Australian gamers are playing 90 minutes each and every day across console, PC and mobile gaming.

Microsoft launched Game Pass in 2017, offering access to a library of its own games and third-party titles that could be downloaded to an Xbox for a monthly fee. PC games were added in 2019 and the option to also stream games, including mobile titles, was subsequently added in 2020.

Microsoft’s goal with videogames is to build “a software annuity and subscription business,” Amy Hood, chief financial officer, said on an earnings call in July.

The Activision deal meant that gaming is now Microsoft’s fourth largest business, nearly on par with its Windows division and already larger than its LinkedIn and advertising units. In addition to its Xbox consoles, the company owns more than 30 studios that make franchises such as “Halo,” “Minecraft” and “Fallout.”

Microsoft has gradually shifted its focus towards its subscription games service as hardware sales have slowed in recent years. Xbox hardware revenue dropped 13 per cent year-on-year in Microsoft’s fiscal 2024, which ended in June.

While the latest Call of Duty is available on Xbox, it is also available on rival platform Sony PlayStation – at the time of approving the Microsoft-Activision deal, regulators were concerned that the deal would scuttle the opportunity for games such as Call of Duty to be released on rival consoles.

Microsoft has also raised the prices of its Game Pass subscription this year. In Oz, the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate increased from A$18.95 to A$22.95, while the PC Game Pass climbed from A$10.95 to A$13.95 while the annual plan for Xbox Game Pass Core rose from A$79.95 to A$89.95.