Summary
From the momentXboxrevealed it was attempting to buyActivision Blizzardfor almost $70 billion, one of the leading questions from gamers was whetherCall of Dutywould become an Xbox exclusive, and if it would be available onGame Pass. The fight to get the acquisition past regulators hinged on the former not happening, and Xbox porting its games toPlayStationsince then has suggested CoD being exclusive to Xbox was never on the table. However, a live-action trailer forBlack Ops 6, the first CoD game releasing under the Xbox banner, has confirmed it will indeed be on Game Pass day one.
More information about Black Ops 6, including what I assume will be a full trailer, will be revealed on June 9 during a direct dedicated to the next Call of Duty game. There’s still a chance Xbox will change the Game Pass tier system between now and the next CoD’s release date on November 15, making it more expensive for those who want access to Black Ops 6 and future CoD games on day one. Doing that now it has confirmed the next CoD will be on Game Pass right away without detailing any such changes, however, would significantly rock the boat if it were to throw in that hypothetical caveat at a later date.
Black Ops 6 Comes To Game Pass Day One
Theories that Xbox might be moving away from Game Pass, or at least its day one for all new releases promise, began when it confirmed three of its exclusives would be launching on different platforms.The unexpected closures of Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks- the studios behindRedfallandHi-Fi Rushrespectively - furthered that belief for some. Clearly, if Xbox is having Game Pass issues, it believes putting new CoD games on the service day one can help fix them.
Whether Black Ops 6 on Game Pass will get gamers on other platforms to join the Xbox ecosystem remains to be seen. If Black Ops 6 is going to be the first CoD game since the release of theSeries X|SandPS5that isn’t on last-gen consoles, this could be an industry-changing play by Xbox. It was recently confirmed that there are still tens of millions of people still using theirPS4s. If those people play CoD, and they need a new console to play Black Ops 6, it seems to me they’ll opt for the one where they can play the game without actually having to buy it.
