Director says Game Pass helped drive big launch

The director of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 believes returning players might have contributed to what’s been called the series’ biggest-ever launch.

Microsoft, which now owns publisher Activision-Blizzard, recently said the latest instalment in the huge shooter franchise set new records for day-one players and its Game Pass subscription.

It was the first Call of Duty title to be released on the service since it bought Activision-Blizzard in a $69bn (£59bn at the time) deal.

Miles Leslie, from developer Treyarch, tells BBC Newsbeat he thinks the new set-up played a part in boosting the numbers.

Game Pass allows members to download titles on Xbox and PC for a monthly fee, similar to something like Netflix.

Miles says it gives Call of Duty’s developers “another avenue to really get the game in the hands of players”.

“What we’ve seen is it’s allowed people that might have been on the fence, might have had some of that friction, might have been like, ‘I haven’t played in a while’ to actually come back and try the game,” he tells Newsbeat.

The latest release also leans into nostalgia with tweaks to Zombies – one of Call of Duty’s best-loved modes – and an update of fan-favourite multiplayer map Nuketown.

“We’ve gotten to the point now where Black Ops and Call of Duty have been around so long – I’ve been working on it for 16 years,” says Miles.

“And really the challenge for us is how do you bring along the fans that love Call of Duty, but how do you create an environment where you can welcome new fans in?”

Black Ops 6 was seen a test of Microsoft’s Activision buyout and company boss Satya Nadelal said it had set a record for new subscribers on launch day – although he didn’t say exactly how many.

He also said sales on PlayStation – where Call of Duty’s biggest audience plays – and PC platform Steam were 60% higher than they were in 2023.

That could be linked to the less positive reception of last year’s Modern Warfare III, and the fact that Black Ops instalments are among the series’ most popular.

The real proof of its success will be whether people who’ve signed up to play Black Ops 6 will stick around.

Miles says for a game like Black Ops 6, which continually gets new multiplayer content updates between each release, it’s down to developers to keep players engaged.

That means keeping a close eye on how veterans and new players are getting on.

“The key is, are they having fun? Where are the friction points? And that’s what we’re analysing,” he says.

“You never know until it’s in the hands of millions of players how it’s going to be received.

“It’s come out and it’s been really positive.

“Obviously there’s things that we can improve and we’ve got our finger on the pulse of the community so that we can hear those things and analyse them and really attack and fix them in the right ways.”

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