Microsoft is reportedly taking the nuclear option: releasing the next Call of Duty day one on Game Pass

First reported by The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is allegedly planning to make this year's new Call of Duty available on Game Pass from day one. According to the WSJ, Microsoft will officially announce the move during its June showcase in the industry's customary, formerly-E3-centered game announcement week.

Microsoft's game subscription service has been a tentpole initiative in recent years, and its acquisition of iconic studios like Bethesda and Obsidian has led to old favorites and new releases being made available on PC, Xbox, and mobile for a monthly payment. Call of Duty has always been The Big One though: one of the most profitable media properties ever, no doubt a big driver of the $70 billion cost of buying Activision Blizzard. CoD's inclusion would add a ton of value (and new users) to Game Pass.

It's also a bit of a make or break move, and I find it hard to look at with anything but trepidation following wave after wave of layoffs and studio closures under the Xbox umbrella, most recently the beloved studios Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin⁠. Part of the squeeze has to come from that fresh, $70 billion, Activision Blizzard-shaped hole in the balance sheet, as well as sluggish sales of Xbox Series consoles⁠—so far matching the pace of last generation's underperforming Xbox One and moving half as many units as Sony's PS5.

But Game Pass is also in a weird place: according to The Verge, Game Pass failed to meet its subscriber growth targets in 2021 and '22, while a recent IGN report quoted 2023's subscriber growth as having slowed down even more. With Game Pass inherently cannibalizing traditional sales of games offered on the service (confirmed by a UK regulator as part of the ActiBlizz merger process and reported by GamesIndustry.biz), slowing Game Pass growth threatens to turn it into an especially costly blunder in the long run.

So Microsoft has a lot of incentives to put The Biggest Game Series Ever on Game Pass: it could prove a huge shot in the