Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launched on October 25 and it had an enormous, record-setting debut. The game had the “biggest” three-day opening weekend in franchise history when looking at total number of players, hours played, and matches.
During an earnings call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Black Ops 6’s release on October 25 set a record for new Game Pass subscriber additions on launch day, though he didn’t offer a specific figure. Nadella went on to say that Black Ops 6 sales on PlayStation and Steam were up “over 60% year-over-year” compared against 2023’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.
Modern Warfare III was 2023’s No. 2 best-selling game overall in the US, trailing only Hogwarts Legacy. It will be interesting to see how Black Ops 6 stacks up in terms of unit sales, but that comparison won’t be perfect, of course, because many people will play Black Ops 6 on Game Pass without buying the game outright. But people are buying Call of Duty games–and lots of them. According to The Washington Post, the Call of Duty series has now passed 500 million copies sold since the franchise debuted in 2003.
For comparison, that’s ahead of the 430 million lifetime sales of GTA games. This figure is poised to grow in a big way soon, as Grand Theft Auto 6 launches in 2025.
Big numbers for Black Ops 6 were expected prior to launch. Not only is the Black Ops brand highly popular, but the game launched into Game Pass, a much-discussed move that seems to have paid off in the short term for Microsoft.
Before this, Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick said he anticipated Call of Duty helping to drive Game Pass subscribers for Microsoft, but only for a period of time. As Zelnick sees it, releasing a major new game into a subscription service makes little sense and is a “lost opportunity” for sales. Zelnick, of course, runs a third-party publisher and has his own set of unique opinions for his business that might not compare directly to Microsoft’s own business objectives.
Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter told GI.biz that Microsoft putting Black Ops 6 could lead to up to six million in lost sales; he estimated that 25% of existing Game Pass subscribers would have bought it anyway. Pachter said Microsoft could see as many as four million new Game Pass subscribers thanks to Black Ops 6.
Black Ops 6 expands this week with the launch of the highly anticipated Nuketown multiplayer map on November 1. After that, Black Ops 6 Season 1 begins on November 14, and this also includes the introduction of Call of Duty: Warzone’s newest map, Area 99.
For more, you can check out GameSpot’s Black Ops 6 campaign and multiplayer reviews.