Call of Duty is back on top, thanks to the massive success of Black Ops 6, at least according to the series’ new owner, Microsoft. Not only did the latest entry in the long-running first-person shooter series break several of its own opening weekend records, it helped boost Xbox Game Pass subscriptions by a significant, though unspecified, amount.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella painted a picture of Black Ops 6’s unprecedented success during Microsoft’s Q1 2025 quarterly earnings call on Wednesday. Nadella called Black Ops 6’s launch, “the biggest Call of Duty release ever.” The game set a new all-time high for the number of players on day one. It also is the biggest Xbox Game Pass debut ever, beating the record set by Bethesda Game Studios’ sci-fi role-playing game Starfield last year.
Black Ops 6 wasn’t just a big hit on Xbox either.
“Unit sales on PlayStation and Steam were also up over 60% year-over-year,” Nadella said. “This speaks to our strategy of meeting gamers where they are by enabling them to play more games across the screens they spend their time on.”
Call of Duty’s social media accounts gave us more details. Black Ops 6 marks the most players, most hours played, and the most cumulative matches during launch weekend. The Washington Post also reported that the series has now surpassed half a billion copies sold, placing it just behind all-time sales for Nintendo’s 40-year-old Mario series (for comparison, the first Call of Duty was released in 2003).
This success, of course, is the best-case scenario for Microsoft, which spent a whopping $69 billion acquiring Call of Duty and its publisher Activision-Blizzard last year. And with Xbox Game Pass struggling to grow its subscriber base, the blockbuster series launching on the service day one was the best chance to spur consumer interest.
However, there are some caveats to how this success is being measured. For one, Black Ops 6’s follows a down year for the series. 2023’s Modern Warfare 3 was a critical flop. Its multiplayer component, arguably the core feature that drives annual sales of the series, was also mostly identical to the previous year’s entry. The massive year-over-year increase reflects sustained interest in the franchise, but it also betrays how Modern Warfare 3 performed at retail. To put Modern Warfare 3’s release into perspective, 2023 marked the first time in 17 years that a non-Call of Duty or non-Rockstar Games title topped the year’s best-seller list (the honor went to Hogwarts Legacy).
When it comes to Game Pass, the surge is no doubt a win for the Netflix-like service. However, the true test of Call of Duty’s ability to strengthen Game Pass numbers will begin in the months ahead. It’s one thing to convince people to part with $20 to check out the latest Call of Duty for a month. It’s another to keep them paying $20 a month to retain access to the game and the rest of Game Pass’ library and benefits.
With Microsoft pushing Game Pass as a service that doesn’t need a console, how this will play out is anyone’s guess. Those who purchased the Amazon Game Pass bundle, for example, are probably inclined to keep their subscription. However, the company will soon allow those players to purchase games playable on the cloud outright.
The company’s transition from a traditional console and game business model to a service model continues to reflect in hardware sales. Microsoft reported a 29 percent drop in Xbox console sales. However, overall revenue for the brand saw a 61 percent jump compared to the same quarter last year. The company attributed the vast majority of that growth to the Activision Blizzard purchase.
Sales aside, this year is a strong one for Call of Duty. Its single-player component is one of the best first-person shooters of the year. And its multiplayer adds just enough to keep things fresh while also harkening back to its golden years. It’s a tremendous add to Xbox Game Pass, one that players should check out if they’re subscribed to the service.
