Can Black Ops 6 Turn Game Pass Around?
Most of my favorite videos games of all time are over twenty years old. I’m a retro lover at heart. And yet, I find the gaming industry to be in one of its most interesting points ever right now. And it’s all because of Game Pass.
There’s a three-way tug of war going on with the very philosophy of creating video games:
Do you sell them at a set retail price like we’ve always done?
Do you make them free-to-play and load them up with micro-transactions?
Do you put them on a subscription service?
Microsoft made a safe bet back in 2017 when Game Pass first launched. By then, subscription services such as Hulu and Netflix were a societal staple. They were services almost everybody had. And if you didn’t have them, chances are you had a friend or family member who did. 2017 was also a time where I didn’t see too many criticisms of subscriptions. Nowadays, the very word “subscription” makes people roll their eyes.
It’s been an uphill battle for Game Pass. Not only are there frequent reports of subscription numbers hitting a standstill, but just recently Microsoft put out a handful of their first party games on other consoles. That was a historic moment for the industry that can’t go understated. It must’ve been how it felt when people saw Sonic Advance for the Nintendo GBA back in the early 2000’s. It’s hard to believe at first. But why would Microsoft do such a thing?
Because they need to sell their games.
Even though I only pay for and use it once or twice a year, I do think Game Pass is well worth the price of admission.
Last month I was able to play Gears of War 1 & 2, Little Kitty Big City, and a few hours of Hauntii and Another Crabs Treasure.
If it weren’t for Game Pass, all of those games would’ve cost me well over a hundred dollars. I think the service could’ve justified itself at a thirty dollar price tag from the beginning! But of course, I’m in the minority there. The harsh truth is, the people who don’t like Game Pass because they don’t own the games, are the same people who don’t beat most of their games. So what’s the difference?
But no matter how you feel about the service, it’s undeniable that something needs to change in order for it to grow two strong legs to stand on. Game Pass needs to become a staple of culture. Remember how Netflix changed its password sharing policy back in 2022? All over social media were people swearing to cancel their Netflix subscription. Well, here we are two years later and their numbers keep going up and up. Why? Because Netflix is a key part of television culture.
So I want to ask you, dear reader, a simple question:
Will Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 be enough to boost the Game Pass subscriber count to an undeniably sustainable number?
It’s a coin flip that’s spinning so fast its hard to predict. If I had to guess; I don’t think so. I do think Black Ops 6 has the potential to bring in ten million subscribers easily before the end of this year, but I still don’t think it has enough leverage to singlehandedly revive the service.
Since 2009 there’s only been two games that beat a Call of Duty title for the best selling in its respective year. Those two games were of course Rockstar titles. 2023 was the first year we’d seen a non Rockstar game beat Call of Duty- Hogwarts Legacy. Was it just a slip up? It’ll be hard to say until we have a few more years behind us. But it’s clear that free-to-play titles like Fortnite or Valorant are dominating the conversation regarding online multiplayer games. My theory is, slowly but surely, Call of Duty will begin to lose a little bit of its status.
But to counter my own theory:
Perhaps Game Pass can make Call of Duty be seen as “free-to-play adjacent”. Millions of people will subscribe for their first month ever, only spending a dollar. And from there, it will cost them roughly two hours of work at any minimum wage job to keep playing the newest Call of Duty with their friends. And of course, there’s dozens of other games for them to try on the service. It’s hard to say no to that!
Either way, I’m excited for the news and statistics this winter.
