Microsoft’s ambition to become the “Netflix of video games” faces a huge test this week with the release of “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” on Friday.
The US software giant bought the game’s publisher Activision-Blizzard a year ago for $69 billion in the sector’s biggest takeover.
Activision’s prized asset was the “Call of Duty” franchise, one of the world’s best-selling games, and Friday’s release will be the first in the series to be available from day one on Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
The game will also be available to PlayStation users — as well as on PC.Mat Piscatella from analyst firm Circana told AFP it was “the biggest push” anyone had made to bolster a subscription platform.
Video game companies once made their money from selling hard copies of their games to players who were plugged into consoles.
But the industry now gets its profits from in-game sales and subscriptions on a model like Netflix or Disney+.
“How consumers react may result in a dramatic industry shift to — or away — from the subscription model,” said Piscatella of the “Call of Duty” release.
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