Cannibalizing game sales in an attempt to push Call of Duty microtransactions upon as many people as possible. I’m sure this won’t backfire in anyway.

A couple of days ago, a teaser trailer was dropped for Activision’s next installment of the Call of Duty franchise, that being Black Ops 6 which is being developed by the remnants of Treyarch. Subsequently On May 28th, Microsoft announced that ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available on PC and Xbox Game Pass from its release day.

Additionally, during the “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct” event, which will be streamed at 2:00 AM JST on June 10th, the first-ever gameplay footage of the game will be unveiled. However, expectations are low, as the last two revamped “Modern Warfare” reboots were lackluster graphical downgrades compared to the 2019 reboot, which essentially saved the franchise from freefalling.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is the latest installment in the enduring Call of Duty franchise. The Black Ops series debuted in 2010 and has seen several releases since. The poorly received reboot, Black Ops Cold War, was released in November 2020 and considered the fifth installment by Activision, leading to the numerical jump from Black Ops 4 directly to Black Ops 6.

The franchise has lost its way long ago, effectively repackaging the same game with new textures and weapons every year since 2006. Once a powerhouse filled with passion, intriguing single-player stories, and a genuine sense of war torn combat, Call of Duty is now a shadow of its former self.

The titles released over a decade ago were crafted with care and dedication, while modern Call of Duty games have shifted to attract a new crowd of casual players.

Modern Call of Duty games are blatant rehashes of their predecessors, a fact made glaringly obvious with the recent release of Modern Warfare 3, not to be confused with the 2011 title of the same name.

Activision continues to profit by treating its annual COD releases as vessels for commercial tie-ins. The games are now entirely built around skill-based matchmaking, designed to psychologically manipulate players with a yo-yo effect that keeps them engaged longer by periodically boosting their self-esteem.

The games are now entirely built around microtransactions, frequently introducing new commercialized seasonal content that increasingly deviates from the “modern warfare” theme.

For example, players can purchase a mechanized glove from Godzilla x Kong as a melee item, which costs $80, more than the game itself. This trend includes bizarre celebrity cameos, such as Nicki Minaj, who is hardly synonymous with first-person shooters or modern warfare. Players can also waste money on operators like Lara Croft’s brother, Larry, or even Snoop Dogg.

Call of Duty has essentially turned into Fortnite, primarily due to the addition of Warzone. This free-to-play battle royale mode has attracted millions of players, driving the sales of these absurd cosmetics. Warzone is likely the reason why file sizes for subsequent installments have ballooned into the hundreds of gigabytes.

Activision’s brilliant developers often copy and paste countless assets across different portions of the game, such as single-player, multiplayer, and Warzone, which are all treated as separate entities.

With each new release, Call of Duty continues to receive more unfavorable reviews, yet retards still buy the game in droves, making it the best-selling game nearly every year, much to my dismay.

The games are now a shadow of their former selves, developed by incompetent activists who often overreact on social media to casual jokes, like those made by Christopher Judge.

Microsoft continues to demonstrate its incompetence in managing the studios it acquires. Recently, they shut down several Bethesda-owned studios, including Tango Gameworks, the developers behind Hi-Fi Rush.

This small, simplistic game received no marketing and was available on Xbox Game Pass from day one, resulting in lackluster sales despite positive fan reception. Adding insult to injury, Microsoft then declared a need for more small games that win awards, precisely what Hi-Fi Rush had achieved.

Xbox Game Pass is a subscription service offered by Microsoft that provides access to hundreds of video games. It has become clear that consumers no longer truly own modern games; instead, they purchase a digital license to “rent” these games.

This license can and will be revoked at any time, whether due to misconduct online or simply because a live service game was terminated by its publisher.

Either way, Game Pass is a novel concept that allows consumers to enjoy hundreds of games for a monthly fee. Think of it as Netflix for games, paying a subscription lets you access any available title, with many new releases added on their launch day.

Your progress carries over if you choose to purchase the games, but there’s no need for consumers to buy them if they’re content with renting, it’s not as if consumers actually own the games they’ve purchased anyway, with Sony and Ubisoft removing purchases from digital libraries.

Former Microsoft staff member Brad Hilderbrand, who served as Senior Public Relations Manager, recently stated on LinkedIn that the recent studio closures were due to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard and the poor revenue generated from games on Game Pass.

Brad clarified that games on Game Pass are accessed through a subscription model, allowing consumers to play available titles for the duration of their subscription without making individual purchases. This results in no direct sales revenue.

Although revenue from popular Game Pass titles is distributed, it’s challenging to maintain a top position for months on end. Consumers often complete and grow tired of many games on Game Pass after just a few weeks.

During Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a 277-page document surfaced containing a short paragraph revealing an internal analysis submitted to a government body. This analysis showed a “[REDACTED] % decline in base game sales twelve months following their addition on Game Pass.

While Game Pass is praised as a great offering for consumers, allowing them to play hundreds of games, some at launch, for a monthly subscription fee, it has broader implications. Both Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation increasingly lack exclusive titles, signaling a potential shift toward a subscription service model for traditional home consoles.

This transition aligns with the broader movement toward digital-only media.

Consumers are quite retarded. It’s well established that day-one access on Xbox Game Pass can hinder a title’s success, resulting in far fewer actual sales beyond multiplatform releases and therefore leading to underwhelming product revenue.

Microsoft acquired Activision, bringing the most popular franchise in video gaming under its umbrella. In response to Sony’s legal pressure over monopolistic concerns, Microsoft signed a 10-year agreement with Sony to keep Call of Duty available on PlayStation systems.

This move underscores Sony’s reliance on such major titles to attract gamers and highlights the precariousness of its position without these popular offerings.

Microsoft’s agreement to keep Call of Duty on Sony systems doesn’t prevent them from offering the game for “free” to Game Pass subscribers on day one. This effectively changes the game, allowing Xbox players to access Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 through their subscription, while PlayStation users would have to pay $70 to purchase it.

This tactic undermines competitors by sacrificing game sales. Given Call of Duty’s consistent dominance in yearly sales charts, its availability on Game Pass will certainly boost subscriber numbers and cannibalize sales figures. Microsoft may even raise subscription prices to accommodate this surge, as their current service costs a mere $11 per month.

This move could be detrimental for the franchise. With each new installment selling millions of copies annually, a significant portion of these sales may now shift due to day-one Game Pass inclusion. Microsoft’s efforts aim to breathe new life into the struggling XBOX brand, despite poor hardware sales for both Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

Market researchers at Newzoo reported that PC game revenue increased by 8% over the previous year, while console revenue saw only fractional growth. This isn’t surprising, considering the Nintendo Switch is the only console with worthwhile exclusives, unlike Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation, where most titles are already or will soon be available on PC.

I’m inclined to believe that the increase in subscribers won’t offset the loss in sales. Xbox players can opt for an $11 monthly subscription instead of a one-time $70 purchase, resulting in a significant loss of sales for Microsoft’s ecosystem, including PC. This will likely reflect poorly on Call of Duty’s sales figures next year.

The potential saving grace lies in the new subscribers’ potential to purchase in-game microtransactions, which have become crucial for modern Call of Duty titles. In 2021, microtransactions accounted for 61% of Activision Blizzard’s revenue, highlighting the immense profitability of mundane dogshit like Nicki Minaj.

Lowering the entry price for Xbox/PC players compared to Sony PlayStation may boost in-game microtransaction sales. Phil Spencer hopes this will counterbalance the anticipated drop in sales numbers once Black Ops 6 launches later this year and I for one simply hope this explodes in the faces of Microsoft.