When Microsoft acquired Activision in 2023, the biggest excitement from it was the possibility of a variety of games joining the Xbox Game Pass service, such as Call of Duty. Since then, Xbox has put recent Call of Duty releases on Game Pass the same day they were released, but the downside has been the loss of revenue.
According to insider Jez Corden, new Xbox boss Asha Sharma is considering removing Call of Duty from Day One releases on Xbox Game Pass. In a recent video, Corden said the following: “I think one of the reasons Microsoft had to raise the price is Call of Duty. Like, Game Pass has disrupted Call of Duty’s business model in a pretty negative way, you know?”
“If you get a big game like Call of Duty in there, Call of Duty is going to vacuum up a lot of that revenue.”
Thanks to Eurogamer for sharing the quotes.
Jez Corden does believe Microsoft is considering the change internally.
You can check out the full video below, where Jez discusses this.
Xbox Game Pass has always been viewed as the best deal in gaming due to its being such a great deal for the consumer and even indie developers. However, when you spend $69 billion on a large acquisition, you want to see the revenue come in. Clearly, Microsoft has lost the potential for more revenue by not making PC and Xbox players pay full price. That’s also not including the game’s microtransactions.
This June, we’ll learn more about what Xbox has to offer with its annual Games Showcase taking place on June 7.
