Biggest Call of Duty Launch Ever
Nadella, who reported upbeat first-quarter results for Microsoft — with a 14 % YoY bounce in working revenue on the again of cloud progress — to traders on the earnings name, additionally confirmed that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launching on Xbox Game Pass had set a document for subscriber additions on launch day for a title on the service. “This speaks to our technique of assembly players the place they’re by enabling them to play extra video games throughout the screens they spend their time on.” the Micrsoft CEO mentioned in the course of the name.
At the earnings name, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood additionally weighed in on Black Ops 6 launch. “There are two issues in regards to the launch which are totally different than the Call of Duty launch a yr in the past the place income was principally acknowledged within the quarter of buy,” Hood mentioned. “First, the sport is obtainable on Game Pass so for gamers who play by Game Pass, the subscription income is acknowledged over time. Second, the sport requires an internet connection to play so even for gamers who buy the standalone recreation, income recognition may even happen ratably over time.”
The outlook for Microsoft’s total gaming division, nonetheless, wasn’t as upbeat. Hood mentioned the corporate anticipated gaming income to say no within the excessive single digits attributable to {hardware}. “We count on Xbox content material and providers income progress to be comparatively flat,” she added.
Black Ops 6 turned the primary Call of Duty title to launch on Game Pass day one. While unit gross sales figures are unavailable, the sport has had a profitable launch throughout platforms. Activision confirmed Thursday that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launch had set new data for day one and opening weekend, topping franchise figures for complete gamers, hours performed and complete matches.
The recreation has attracted a sizeable participant base on Steam, in keeping with SteamDB charts. The Call of Duty app, required to entry Black Ops 6 content material, has seen a peak of over 300,000 concurrent gamers on Steam because the recreation launched. Over 102,000 gamers are within the recreation on the time of writing.
