Microsoft’s big Game Pass bet on Black Ops 6 seems to pay off with ‘biggest CoD release ever’ 

It wasn’t a secret that Microsoft expected more from its struggling Game Pass numbers, and a lot seemed to be riding on Black Ops 6‘s reception as a day one Game Pass offering. After a huge weekend for the new title, its seems like that bet is paying off.

After launching to much fanfare on Oct. 25, the latest Call of Duty offering appears to have struck the right chord with modern CoD players and old-timers alike (we’ve liked it quite a bunch, too). And in a Microsoft earnings call going over the first quarter of their 2025 fiscal year (which ended on Sept. 30), CEO Satya Nadella also previews the early findings on Q2, highlighted by Black Ops 6. Nadella labeled BO6 “the biggest Call of Duty release ever,” and claimed the new release set records for first-day players and Game Pass subscription additions on launch day. Nadella also added that sales for the franchise on PlayStation and Steam were also up as much as 60 percent year over year.

That’s some encouraging business news for Xbox and Microsoft, whose struggles to sell new Xbox hardware have been well-documented. The company began pivoting to less exclusivity for the games it developed, as well as increasing the price for Game Pass ultimate for new and returning subscribers in the summer—as well as multiple rounds of layoffs throughout the year.

That’s the backdrop against BO6 launching day one on Game Pass, the first CoD title to do so. The goal seemed simple: Microsoft was willing to put one of their biggest and most sure money-making titles on Game Pass with the intention of driving more Xbox users to Game Pass Ultimate with its new, higher price, and that sales of the game on other platforms would also help buoy the game’s bottom line. And so far, it seems like that plan is working.

According to the earnings press release, revenue generated from Xbox content and services (i.e. not console sales) was already up more than 60 percent thanks to the company’s Activision acquisition, and that’s before BO6 has been taken into account.

With season one on the way, a Warzone update, and plenty of new skins undoubtedly in the pipeline, it seems like BO6 is shaping up to be a big bread-winner for Microsoft going into 2025.