I’ve talked about Microsoft quite a bit here on BSO Entertainment. Most of it has been negative but let’s be honest about this situation. Microsoft hasn’t been making great decisions lately and the ones they have made have left a significant number of people without jobs as they find more ways to maximize profits for shareholders. It’s been a pretty frustrating time for Xbox owners like myself, so yesterday’s Xbox Showcase was a pleasant surprise. Then Microsoft announced one of the weirdest moves of all the game by announcing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 would be coming to Game Pass on Day One.
That’s right, folks. Microsoft announced the 8th most-played game and one that has hauled in over $27 billion will be free on Xbox. Sorry PlayStation gamers, you will have to pay. While I admit that I mostly play my PS5, I’ve been very vocal about why I play that over my Xbox and when Xbox has churned out some amazing games like Hi-Fi Rush, I will use my Xbox. I love the system, it just lacks content that uses everything the system has to offer. I’m not upset that I have to pay for Black Ops 6, I prefer to own my games over having to rely on another company and sometimes that isn’t even enough. I’m talking to you, Ubisoft.
What I am in this situation is completely mystified. The only thing I can reason is Microsoft must have looked at the numbers and decided giving the game away for free wouldn’t hurt it in terms of overall money. Maybe the Call of Duty store covers the lost funds on the back end. Otherwise, I do not understand the logic of giving away one of the most popular games in the world for free, especially one that has had a longer Call of Duty development cycle than any other game.
Microsoft is leaving a ton of money on the table and I wouldn’t be surprised if people at Activision are truly worried about the future of this game. We’ve seen how Microsoft liquidates assets and then closes down studios or projects. It’s no different than a hedge fund at this point and now they’re throwing the world’s most popular game into that meat grinder, presumably expecting much different results than they’re likely to get.
It’s one thing to give away a game you made, it’s an entirely different thing when it’s a game someone else made. I’m happy for Xbox fans that yesterday provided an extensive amount of games coming to the system soon, even if most of them are also coming to PlayStation, too. I am genuinely excited for Mixtape and I cannot wait to see what that game delivers. There are reasons to be excited, but there are also reasons to worry when you are seeing more and more phasing out of the term “Xbox” and switching to the term “Microsoft Gaming.”
I am definitely buying Black Ops 6 on release. I have been waiting for that game for ages and will happily pay the $100 for the Vault Edition over the free edition on Xbox. I’d rather know that I can fire up my game at any time, even if it is pulled from Game Pass and stored in its own vault. Most games we buy these days are simply codes on a disc that allows the downloaded game to run. They’re not actually using the game disc for game storage these days on a lot of titles. That said, it’s still physical and it provides a sense of ownership that Game Pass cannot.
I genuinely hope that none of the Call of Duty studios are harmed by Microsoft’s decision to give the game away on Game Pass. I’m being absolutely serious. I’ve come to love the franchise after hating it for years. Maybe I’ll tell that story someday, but for now, I remain a Call of Duty stan. All we want as Call of Duty fans is a solid product with a sense of identity and geared toward player desires and feedback. If Microsoft can do that, great.
Something tells me they won’t.
