Breakdown
- An insider is claiming that Call of Duty's Game Pass debut will force changes to the service
- It's not yet known if this will lead to a price hike or a change in subscriber tiers
- CoD's Game Pass debut could also damage the game's overall sales
The next Call of Duty entry is set to release on Game Pass this year, with major changes coming to the service as a result. It’s not yet known if this will lead to a price hike or even a change in the service’s structure, but something is bound to happen.
On ResetEra (via VGC), industry insider Shinobi602 has confirmed to users on the site that Game Pass will be changing when the iconic shooter comes. Shinobi602 replied to a user who suggested that the changes could be a new fee or reorganized tiers, saying “There will be changes, yes.”
Fans still don’t know what these changes are going to be, but Xbox users are assuming that Call of Duty’s presence in Game Pass will force a price hike. While this hasn’t been confirmed, Activision Blizzard has always touted the sales success of CoD and a price hike could mitigate losses.
Executives in Xbox and Activision Blizzard are worried that sales will take a hit when CoD hits Game Pass, as the shooter is ridiculously popular. Disappointing games like Modern Warfare 3 still sell millions, so losing a portion of physical and digital sales has these execs worried.
Xbox is hoping that Call of Duty on Game Pass leads to sales for the Xbox Series consoles, since fans would buy them for these games alone. Having CoD launch immediately on Game Pass would tempt users to buy a Series X console or even purchase a Game Pass subscription on PC.
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are set to reveal the next Call of Duty game during this year’s Xbox Games Showcase. Similar to what they did with Starfield, this new entry will be shown off after the actual Showcase. While the new entry hasn’t been officially confirmed, the clues to this new entry make it glaringly obvious.
The new Call of Duty should be announced early next month on June 9, as part of Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase. Despite Microsoft owning Activision Blizzard, the series is expected to hit PS5 and Switch 2 for the foreseeable future.