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[HeisenbergFX4]

I don't see them backtracking on this one

While I see 100% parity I could see maybe cheaper prices on maybe battle passes if your a Gamepass subscriber?

I could see perks but not bending the parity

 

[//DEVIL//]

Call of duty is the ultimate bait to gamepass.

Anyone who buys the game will be tempted to just game pass it and play other games as well.

I’ll stick to buying the game personally, because I play it almost every week. So it make sense to just buy it instead of paying for the whole year more than double the price of the game .

Yes you get other games to play as well so that’s an advantage.

Will see how it goes. If they have release date for upcoming games that I want. Then it makes more sense to just game pass all these games instead of buying them

 

[Gambit2483]

Good luck making that $70B back.

 

[pasterpl]

Kind of surprised they didn't hold this until the show honestly

Makes you wonder what they have prepared for the show.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

It was inevitable that the upcoming cod along with past titles would end up on gamepass, on top with an increase in gamepass prices to make up for the potential loss of revenue, that would come with giving the game free on the service (the price increase is pending, but it's almost definitely on the cards).

But, if the needle didn't move the day that the acquisition was announced as having gone through, given the fact that gamers expected cod to drop on gamepass following the acquisition eventually, It's doubtful that the needle will move now. If subscriber numbers didn't surge and Xbox consoles didn't start flying off the shelves en masse that day and the 7 months preceding that date, it won't move now.

Those who bought the game on playstation, will just continue to do so and playstation users won't all of a sudden start mass migrating to Xbox due to cod. If it didn't happen already, it's probably not ever happening. Maybe they'll gain around 500k to 1 million gamepass subs(and that's an optimistic number).

I'm actually gonna play devil's advocate here for a bit and argue why this isn't necessarily the case: GTA6.

We know that GTA6 is coming "soon". A little over a year from now. We know it had the official trailer reveal late last year. Does that not mean there won't be a massive surge of new people buying Xboxes and (mainly) PlayStations (PS5 & Pro) once the game actually arrives on store shelves and the marketing campaign really kicks in? Of course not. That's arguably when you'd really start seeing console sales (again, mainly PlayStation here; basically assured they have the marketing rights) increase significantly again, even more than what we saw for Hogwarts Legacy.

Well, if that can apply for console sales, why can't it apply for subscription services? Yeah you might have gotten some uptick in subs and maybe some consoles after the ABK deal itself closed, but I don't think you'd see the majority of that uptick until the game is actually out and it's actually there in the service alongside a marketing campaign. Unless MS completely screw up the marketing (and that is very possible: they utterly suck at big epic marketing compared to Sony/SIE), they are probably expecting a surge in subs and a big boost in accompanying console sales closer to COD's release.

I think that is the only way to truly gauge what impact this will have, which means we'd have to wait a few months. Even early preorder numbers won't give much indication because those are people who were always gonna buy the game regardless. If there is an improvement (a real improvement, not a "margin of error" statistical improvement) in Xbox hardware sales at some point over the next few months leading up to COD's release, that could serve as a better indication if this move is having any substantial impact on improving hardware or subscription rates.

They are in a weird position.

If they stop with Day 1 titles or change anything drastically, I think there will be massive backlash from the Xbox faithful.... and I mean the core audience.

Xbox IS Game Pass (and the major features of it) to alot of their hardcore fanbase.

All according to Good Guy Phil™'s long-term con plan

 

[Northeastmonk]

I played Blops4 on PC, which downloaded through Battle.net, which had no single player campaign, and it wasn’t a bad game at all. It was just forgettable as a CoD game. Blops3 sucked. It had all the levels playable from the start and it didn’t do anything memorable besides a power move or something in multiplayer. I try to own all the CoD’s. It’s just not something I stick to for 6-7 months straight. I wonder if it’s going to be on Xbox Cloud. I’m also not sure what I expect from Blops6.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Good luck making that $70B back.

Didn't Ryan himself (in poorly redacted papers) say Playstation players alone spend like $16 BILLION a year on COD alone?

They will be fine

 

[Topher]

I thought the whole point of the lawsuit was that MS couldn't put it on Gamepass? And then the my ended up selling off streaming rights or summat

No, that was about cloud streaming. Microsoft sold those rights to Ubisoft. More to it than that, but that's the overall gist.

Good luck making that $70B back.

They don't need to make the money back. They paid cash for assets. It's a balance sheet change.

 

[Gambit2483]

Didn't Ryan himself (in poorly redacted papers) say Playstation players alone spend like $16 BILLION a year on COD alone?

They will be fine

Nah I missed that but if so then yeah, barring any changes in spending habits they could make that back in 5 years or so

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Curious to see Xbox business plan about it. In theory they should loose more than they will gain unless enough people that do not play COD yet decide to try it because of Gamepass right? And having such a game on Gamepass will make them unlikely to search for others deals in that period, allowing them to pay less third parties, but reducing their appeal to them because everybody know that people will use Gamepass for COD instead of other games and deals made before it was revealed will loose on it too. When GTA is out it will harm them probably but it would have happened no matter what. What else to think about?

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Nah I missed that but if so then yeah, barring any changes in spending habits they could make that back in 5 years or so

I had to check and make sure my numbers were accurate

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/sony...e-in-the-united-states-alone-in-2021.1658287/

 

[mckmas8808]

If this doesn't do some serious numbers (in hardware and/or subs), you can bet your ass Game Pass will be killed or at the very least changed up quite a bit.

Let's be real here....this is it.

If COD can't do it, nothing will.

Agreed! MS would probably like to see GP numbers hit 40 million subscribers by the end of this year. If they don't, it's OVER!

 

[IllegalLemon]

I'm actually gonna play devil's advocate here for a bit and argue why this isn't necessarily the case: GTA6.

We know that GTA6 is coming "soon". A little over a year from now. We know it had the official trailer reveal late last year. Does that not mean there won't be a massive surge of new people buying Xboxes and (mainly) PlayStations (PS5 & Pro) once the game actually arrives on store shelves and the marketing campaign really kicks in? Of course not. That's arguably when you'd really start seeing console sales (again, mainly PlayStation here; basically assured they have the marketing rights) increase significantly again, even more than what we saw for Hogwarts Legacy.

Well, if that can apply for console sales, why can't it apply for subscription services? Yeah you might have gotten some uptick in subs and maybe some consoles after the ABK deal itself closed, but I don't think you'd see the majority of that uptick until the game is actually out and it's actually there in the service alongside a marketing campaign. Unless MS completely screw up the marketing (and that is very possible: they utterly suck at big epic marketing compared to Sony/SIE), they are probably expecting a surge in subs and a big boost in accompanying console sales closer to COD's release.

I think that is the only way to truly gauge what impact this will have, which means we'd have to wait a few months. Even early preorder numbers won't give much indication because those are people who were always gonna buy the game regardless. If there is an improvement (a real improvement, not a "margin of error" statistical improvement) in Xbox hardware sales at some point over the next few months leading up to COD's release, that could serve as a better indication if this move is having any substantial impact on improving hardware or subscription rates.



All according to Good Guy Phil™'s long-term con plan

You've got a point here to be honest. But I wouldn't exactly 100% bet on cod being the big mover of the gp sub needle that some are making it out to be. Will it move it slightly? Most probably. But, will it be massive? I'm not sure and to be honest, I wouldn't bet on it.

Let's not forget that gta doesn't have yearly releases like cod does and Rockstar takes their sweet time to fill every nook and cranny of the game's world with meaningful stuff to do. And all that on top of a package that while being huge, is also insanely bug free and stable considering its size and scope and budget, plus it's not the same repackaged copy/paste crap we get every year with cod, where it's basically a reskin in a different location. Cod has a lot of impact, but I'll play a second devil's advocate here and say gta has a broader appeal and popularity and possibly greater reach.

That's not to say that cod on gp wouldn't attract a fair bit of subscribers and add growth to the service. But I believe that some are over- exaggerating the impact it has and growth it might give. It's a wait and see kind of scenario. Hopefully, it ends boosting gp subs and gives the xbox team some encouragement, because if it doesn't, then they spent almost 69 billion for basically cod, just to get very little in return and they'll be in even murkier waters if that's the case. Satya is getting impatient.

 

[mckmas8808]

No, that was about cloud streaming. Microsoft sold those rights to Ubisoft. More to it than that, but that's the overall gist.



They don't need to make the money back. They paid cash for assets. It's a balance sheet change.

That's not how it works. You guys have GOT TO STOP with this lie man!

I had to check and make sure my numbers were accurate

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/sony...e-in-the-united-states-alone-in-2021.1658287/

So how much did Xbox generate for COD?

 

[Topher]

That's not how it works. You guys have GOT TO STOP with this lie man!

That's exactly how it works. Microsoft paid for ABK in cash. So who are Microsoft "paying back"? They didn't take out a loan. It's a change in assets.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

That's not how it works. You guys have GOT TO STOP with this lie man!



So how much did Xbox generate for COD?

Have seen estimates of about 25% of all the COD players are on Xbox consoles.

In the grand scheme of things the number of sells lost by going to Gamepass isn't huge as long as the MTX keeps rolling in

 

[mckmas8808]

That's exactly how it works. Microsoft paid for ABK in cash. So who are Microsoft "paying back"? They didn't take out a loan. It's a change in assets.

You know what we are saying man. Stop it! You know Nadella and the shareholders don't view it as "ONLY" a change in assets. You're smart enough to know this. I've seen many of your posts. You get it. There's some expected ROI that's needed. What that is, we don't know. But we know MS was looking at 100 million GamePass subscriptions by 2030.

Putting COD on Gamepass clearly is a signal that they still want that 100 million.

Have seen estimates of about 25% of all the COD players are on Xbox consoles.

In the grand scheme of things the number of sells lost by going to Gamepass isn't huge as long as the MTX keeps rolling in

You're forgetting PC COD players too though.

 

[Darsxx82]

That's not how it works. You guys have GOT TO STOP with this lie man!

You know what we are saying man. Stop it! You know Nadella and the shareholders don't view it as "ONLY" a change in assets. You're smart enough to know this. I've seen many of your posts. You get it. There's some expected ROI that's needed. What that is, we don't know. But we know MS was looking at 100 million GamePass subscriptions by 2030.

???

Yes, it is how it work. MS has purchased assetes that have a value and generate a return. It's not that MS bought air LOL. ..... It's like if you buy a vacation home on the beach for 3 millons and that you rent out to tourists 10k month. You can recoup some or all of the 3 millons investment by selling the house.

 

[mckmas8808]

???

Yes, it is how it work. MS has purchased assetes that have a value and generate a return. It's not that MS bought air LOL. ..... It's like if you buy a vacation home on the beach for 3 millons and that you rent out to tourists 10k month. You can recoup some or all of the 3 millons investment by selling the house.

But you and I both know they don't want to sell off ABK. So lets stop with the silliness and thinking of this like 15 year olds. MS has a goal when buying ABK for $75 Billion. And it didn't include failing in the deal and then selling ABK years later for profit.

 

[Topher]

You know what we are saying man. Stop it! You know Nadella and the shareholders don't view it as "ONLY" a change in assets. You're smart enough to know this. I've seen many of your posts. You get it. There's some expected ROI that's needed. What that is, we don't know. But we know MS was looking at 100 million GamePass subscriptions by 2030.

Putting COD on Gamepass clearly is a signal that they still want that 100 million.

First.....calm down man. This ain't that serious. Second, if the post I replied to said stockholders might be concerned about potential losses in this move then I would have agreed with that. I simply pointed out that there was nothing to "pay back". That's it.

 

[Darsxx82]

But you and I both know they don't want to sell off ABK. So lets stop with the silliness and thinking of this like 15 year olds. MS has a goal when buying ABK for $75 Billion. And it didn't include failing in the deal and then selling ABK years later for profit.

And?? That has nothing to do with it. We are discussing what those 70B have become and of course ABK has a value. These are assets that generate returns. That is, ABK still has a value.

You confuse the risk of the investment and possible loss of value of the assets acquired by 70B ..... That will be a situation that we will see in the future.

 

[Mythoclast]

Remember that COD initial launch is just a portion of the total revenue. MSFT could be betting on long-tail cosmetic sales throughout the year, with a much bigger reach.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

You're forgetting PC COD players too though.

There wont be many PC players switch from Battlenet to Gamepass

 

[mckmas8808]

First.....calm down man. This ain't that serious. Second, if the post I replied to said stockholders might be concerned about potential losses in this move then I would have agreed with that. I simply pointed out that there was nothing to "pay back". That's it.

I am calm. It's just annoying seeing people act as if MS themselves have nothing to do or prove even to themselves now that they purchased ABK for $75 billion. No MS Exec would agree with that.

And?? That has nothing to do with it. We are discussing what those 70B have become and of course ABK has a value. These are assets that generate returns. That is, ABK still has a value.

You confuse the risk of the investment and possible loss of value of the assets acquired by 70B ..... That will be a situation that we will see in the future.

When gamers talk about MS needed to make money back from the $75B ABK purchase, we are only talking about the risk of investment. Never the lost in value for ABK and what it's worth.

There wont be many PC players switch from Battlenet to Gamepass

Hmmm......interesting. Does Battlenet cost those PC gamers any money on the front end?

 

[nemiroff]

Wat

 

[Topher]

I am calm. It's just annoying seeing people act as if MS themselves have nothing to do or prove even to themselves now that they purchased ABK for $75 billion. No MS Exec would agree with that.

And I don't agree with that either. Again, that's not what I said. I made a factual statement. Don't know what else to tell you.

 

[SHA]

Everyone level 40 on day one.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

There wont be many PC players switch from Battlenet to Gamepass

Might be a nice little chunk if it's included in a $10 PC Game Pass.

 

[Darsxx82]

I am calm. It's just annoying seeing people act as if MS themselves have nothing to do or prove even to themselves now that they purchased ABK for $75 billion. No MS Exec would agree with that.



When gamers talk about MS needed to make money back from the $75B ABK purchase, we are only talking about the risk of investment. Never the lost in value for ABK and what it's worth.

But that's not what you meant when you rejected that statement. The fact is that MS hasn't bought air for 70B, it has bought assets that have a market value and generate a return. You, as a shareholder, can discuss the suitability or otherwise of the investment and whether that cash would be better and safer in the bank, generating safe returns.

 

[adamsapple]

Everyone level 40 on day one.

I'm just in it for the campaign, y'all MP freaks have at it!

 

[twilo99]

Good luck making that $70B back.

The future of Microsoft depends on it!

 

[SHA]

I'm just in it for the campaign, y'all MP freaks have at it!

Same here, I'm joking.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I wonder if they will offer a game pass exclusive early entry option (at an additional cost) to get the game early, like Starfield.

 

[ManaByte]

MS sending out emails advertising COD on normal Game Pass. The additional tier thing was FUD. A trillion dollar company isn’t going to open themselves up to a bait and switch lawsuit.

 

[Saber]

I thought the whole point of the lawsuit was that MS couldn't put it on Gamepass? And then the my ended up selling off streaming rights or summat

Yeah.
At the start of the deal stuff I was like nah, too risky and they would kill the money from actual sales.
But with all the shit that they have being doing, I can see they found a new middle ground by killing off their own studios as a way to balance.
What surprises me is that they didn't catch the attention of the regulamentory people. I guess those were also fruitfull with what they are doing as well.

 

[Topher]

MS sending out emails advertising COD on normal Game Pass. The additional tier thing was FUD. A trillion dollar company isn’t going to open themselves up to a bait and switch lawsuit.

Yeah, probably FUD, but that advertising doesn't change what is agreed to in the terms and conditions. If MS wanted to add a tier for Call of Duty then I doubt there is much stopping them.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I guess this move just confuses me to what the fuck Xbox’s goal is with the brand. I want competition because it makes everyone work harder, but Xbox out there making moves like they want to quit, then moves like the want to kill the rest.

Xbox bipolar as fuck.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

You've got a point here to be honest. But I wouldn't exactly 100% bet on cod being the big mover of the gp sub needle that some are making it out to be. Will it move it slightly? Most probably. But, will it be massive? I'm not sure and to be honest, I wouldn't bet on it.

Let's not forget that gta doesn't have yearly releases like cod does and Rockstar takes their sweet time to fill every nook and cranny of the game's world with meaningful stuff to do. And all that on top of a package that while being huge, is also insanely bug free and stable considering its size and scope and budget, plus it's not the same repackaged copy/paste crap we get every year with cod, where it's basically a reskin in a different location. Cod has a lot of impact, but I'll play a second devil's advocate here and say gta has a broader appeal and popularity and possibly greater reach.

That's not to say that cod on gp wouldn't attract a fair bit of subscribers and add growth to the service. But I believe that some are over- exaggerating the impact it has and growth it might give. It's a wait and see kind of scenario. Hopefully, it ends boosting gp subs and gives the xbox team some encouragement, because if it doesn't, then they spent almost 69 billion for basically cod, just to get very little in return and they'll be in even murkier waters if that's the case. Satya is getting impatient.

Yeah you're right about COD not being the type of big mover GTA will be, for the reasons listed. GTA's a (literally) once-a-generation (or every TWO generations at this point) event. GTA6 is probably going to be a bigger launch than the actual consoles themselves were in a 24-hour time span when it comes to total revenue. COD can't compete with that.

But...COD is arguably the next-best-thing in terms of B2P games with a legacy for moving big numbers. It's just never demonstrated that ability to drive subscriptions because, well, it's never been Day 1 in a service. Until now, apparently.

So we'll see how it goes. I mean, Xbox sales could be even more catastrophic over the next few months, so much that whatever boost COD in Game Pass provides wouldn't overcome the sheer declines that have accumulated over the past 12-18 months. Whether Xbox sales do in fact crater even further over summer will probably depend a lot on what's shown at the June Showcase, how Game Pass factors into that, and what unique value MS gives to Game Pass and specifically Xbox hardware in the wake of even more ports to PlayStation and Nintendo.

I don't even really think this gambit is to save Xbox consoles so much as it is to stimulate Game Pass growth. And who knows, maybe MS have reached an agreement with Sony & Nintendo for Game Pass on their platforms. If so, I can easily see why they would consider making this push with COD, particularly if GP access on those platforms is tied to already having PS+ or NSO+ (so, Sony & Nintendo let you add Game Pass Ultimate for an extra $5/month - $8/month or something like that tied to your current PS+ or NSO+ subscription, and Sony/Nintendo get their cut out of that extra while MS gets the rest of the money). Although GP on those platforms would be limited to MS's own published games.

Have seen estimates of about 25% of all the COD players are on Xbox consoles.

In the grand scheme of things the number of sells lost by going to Gamepass isn't huge as long as the MTX keeps rolling in

Well MS also have to account for some of the would-be B2P PlayStation and Steam customers who might have an Xbox and/or PC & Game Pass and decide to access COD through the sub instead of buying it. So it's not just needing to consider the potential conversions from B2P to subscription on Xbox systems, they'd need to consider that with other platforms as well.

So the question would probably be what percentage of those players do MS expect to make that conversion, and how many will contribute to a high churn rate, vs. what the actual numbers play out to be. I guess they are confident enough it'd work out to a good balance of sub growth without much impact to B2P sales across available platforms. Whether or not that factors in current GP prices or an as-yet-undisclosed price hike, is unknown.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I’m shocked at the low amount of replies for this great news though. Makes me wonder how many posts there would be if it was confirmed on a new tier or not on game pass at all.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I’m shocked at the low amount of replies for this great news though. Makes me wonder how many posts there would be if it was confirmed on a new tier or not on game pass at all.

It's the day after Memorial Day and COD's a big American franchise. Lot of people who'd be posting are probably returning from vacation or gotta catch up at work & school.

Or could also be the last COD made a lot of folks cautious going forward. The PS/Nintendo Xbox port stuff from earlier probably demotivated a lot of Xbox diehards who'd be gloating about this, too.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Awesome.

Thank you MS. More money saved. I'll let the bean counters at head office figure out how to cover my purchase with the $80 billion profit they make per year.

 

[Aguero9320]

I’m shocked at the low amount of replies for this great news though. Makes me wonder how many posts there would be if it was confirmed on a new tier or not on game pass at all.

Don't be so cynical, it's summer time, lots of people are outside enjoying the weather… (I see someone has made this post but less sarcastically already )

 

[FoxMcChief]

Don't be so cynical, it's summer time, lots of people are outside enjoying the weather… (I see someone has made this post but less sarcastically already )

People here don’t go outside and enjoy the weather. Bunch of trolls playing their games under bridges is what we are.

 

[proandrad]

As a call of duty campaign enjoyer, this is the next best thing to being able to buy just the single player portion at a discount.

 

[ManaByte]

I guess this move just confuses me to what the fuck Xbox’s goal is with the brand. I want competition because it makes everyone work harder, but Xbox out there making moves like they want to quit, then moves like the want to kill the rest.

Xbox bipolar as fuck.

Or maybe you bought into FUD.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Or maybe you bought into FUD.

Maybe. Either way, being an owner of all the consoles still pays off in the end.

PC gaming is the smartest option, but my OCD doesn’t allow me to enjoy PC gaming like the normal folk.

 

[cebri.one]

RIP Activision Revenue.

 

[FoxMcChief]

RIP Activision Revenue.

So the non-game pass versions aren’t being sold anymore?

 

[cebri.one]

So the non-game pass versions aren’t being sold anymore?

Yes, but now Xbox players and some PC players won't pay for it. Therefore reduced revenue. I imagine they will try to compensate by making as many games available on PS5 as possible.

 

[mckmas8808]

But that's not what you meant when you rejected that statement. The fact is that MS hasn't bought air for 70B, it has bought assets that have a market value and generate a return. You, as a shareholder, can discuss the suitability or otherwise of the investment and whether that cash would be better and safer in the bank, generating safe returns.

No MS themselves will be wondering if that $75 Billion was a good investment, if they don't see the ROI that they are expecting. Not just shareholders.

As a call of duty campaign enjoyer, this is the next best thing to being able to buy just the single player portion at a discount.

See this is a problem MS will run into. People like proandrad This is lost revenue.

Yes, but now Xbox players and some PC players won't pay for it. Therefore reduced revenue. I imagine they will try to compensate by making as many games available on PS5 as possible.

Which will lead to less Xbox console sales. Which then leads to slower gamepass growth.