‘Call Of Duty’ Reportedly Releasing For Free On Game Pass This Year

According to a new report in The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft will release the next installment of Call Of Duty onto Game Pass later this year. The upcoming Black Ops game will be the first in franchise history to be released for free as part of a subscription service, and will likely be one of the worst-selling games in Call Of Duty history because of it.

This could be a huge mistake on Microsoft’s part. The Xbox manufacturer has shuttered countless studios over the years and cancelled numerous games, laying off thousands of employees in the process. Now, the company is risking the profitability of the best-selling video game franchise in history in order to keep Game Pass project afloat. After spending nearly $70 billion on Activision, this strikes me as quite a gamble, even if the acquisition—like Bethesda’s before it—was largely done just to boost Game Pass numbers.

The official announcement is reportedly set for Microsoft’s June showcase. Call of Duty will remain a multiplatform game, so Microsoft will still reap the benefits of PlayStation sales.

In some ways it makes sense. A major live-service game like Call Of Duty means gamers are less likely to cancel their subscription since they’ll lose access to the game and whatever else they’ve purchased in-game. New seasonal content that includes free maps and modes, new Battle Passes and a steady stream of updates and item shop goodies has a better chance of keeping subscribers, paying $17/month for Game Pass Ultimate which includes both access to the free games and online multiplayer, both of which would be required to play Call Of Duty online.

That’s $204/year plus whatever players spend on COD Points and Battle Passes, which is certainly lots more than the $70 base game. Of course, they’d be spending at least $10/month already for online access so it’s more like $120/year, and if they cancel halfway through they could get the new COD for less than retail price. Also, anyone who just plays for the campaign could simply sign up for the $1 Game Pass trial, beat it in a day and then cancel, saving $69 (and costing Microsoft that much in lost sales) in the process. Then again, Microsoft may cancel the $1 promotion, and will almost certainly raise prices on Game Pass.

Game Pass has been a success according to Microsoft, but I have grown increasingly leary of the subscription model, which takes away even more of our ownership over the games we play—already an issue in the digital age, especially with so many live-service games in the mix—and may not be sustainable in the long-run since fewer “whales” end up spending as much money. It’s difficult to make a real assessment without accurate numbers from Microsoft, and on that front we only have what the company chooses to reveal. But certainly giving away the #1 best-selling game of the year for free is a risky proposition.

On a more optimistic note, it looks like many of the older entries in the series will also be coming to Game Pass, which is a great idea.