Black Ops 6 Sets New Records as Biggest Call of Duty Release Ever
In a move that likely surprises no one, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is smashing records across the board. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced today that the latest entry in the Call of Duty series has become the “biggest Call of Duty release ever,” setting new day-one player records and dominating engagement metrics.
Nadella’s announcement follows the franchise’s tradition of claiming each year’s title as the biggest yet, a familiar refrain in Activision’s playbook. This time, though, Black Ops 6 has one massive edge—it’s the first game in the series to launch on Game Pass, giving it an enormous audience from the jump. With this advantage, Black Ops 6 was almost guaranteed to secure its record-breaking status on release day.
It’s not just Xbox seeing big numbers either. Nadella revealed that sales on PlayStation and Steam are up by an impressive 60% over last year’s Modern Warfare 3. Although we’re still missing exact figures, it’s a safe bet that this reflects how last year’s CoD fell flat with players compared to the franchise’s core Black Ops series.
The celebratory stats rolled out on social media, where the Call of Duty team shared that Black Ops 6 recorded the most hours and matches played within a three-day opening period in the series’ history. These figures, although vague, seem to match with Nadella’s report on Game Pass growth: Black Ops 6 drove the highest single-day Game Pass subscriber increase to date, signaling that putting this year’s biggest release on the subscription service is paying off handsomely.
With Black Ops 6 revitalizing the series, it’s clear that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision and the strategic decision to drop Call of Duty on Game Pass could represent a big shift in how the franchise approaches its audience in the future.
