Xbox confirms Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Won’t be Locked into a New Game Pass Tier
With the official announcement last week that the next entry in Activision’s massive Call of Duty franchise would be coming to Xbox Game Pass, many fans feared that this may spur the introduction of a new Game Pass tier with increased pricing. Considering the immense size of the Call of Duty IP, Xbox trying to squeeze a little more cash from consumers would make sense- especially since Black Ops 6 will likely launch at a full price point of £70. This would make a price bump or tier increase requirement to access this latest game very appealing for Microsoft.
Image by Activision
However, as it turns out, this is not the case. Ahead of its launch (likely in October or November), Xbox has confirmed that the game will be included in most Game Pass tiers with the exclusion of the budget Xbox Game Pass Core, which offers a taster selection of the full service at £6.99 a month. There is a slight caveat to this Call of Duty news, however. To be able to play online and have access, you’ll need to shell out for the more expensive £12.99 Ultimate subscription (the core tier does include online but you’ll have to buy the game separately as it isn’t included in the more limited library).
Image by Activision
Considering the huge price difference, however, this move will likely draw in a lot of casual players to the Game Pass subscription. It seems that the business strategy from Microsoft here is to draw in players with Call of Duty in hopes that they’ll keep their subscription renewed with other offerings or, more likely, with the next CoD game the following year. Its unclear as to whether this will draw players away from other the PlayStation 5, however, since Xbox has promised to keep the franchise on their biggest rival’s systems for a few years at least.
Image by Activision
Its good news It’s a bold strategy from the company and it may just be what they need to gain a foothold in the hardware race (if that’s something they’re even interested in winning anymore). For the consumer, though, the option to either buy the game day one or pay a far reduced rate to have access to Call of Duty amongst a hundred other releases is always a good one to have.
