Call of Duty is back on top, thanks to the massive success of Black Ops 6, at least according to the series’ new owner, Microsoft. Not only did the latest entry in the long-running first-person shooter series break several of its own opening weekend records, it helped boost Xbox Game Pass subscriptions by a significant, though unspecified, amount.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella painted a picture of Black Ops 6’s unprecedented success during Microsoft’s Q1 2025 quarterly earnings call on Wednesday. Nadella called Black Ops 6’s launch, “the biggest Call of Duty release ever.” The game set a new all-time high for the number of players on day one. It also is the biggest Xbox Game Pass debut ever, beating the record set by Bethesda Game Studios’ sci-fi role-playing game Starfield last year.
