Microsoft Still Evaluating Whether to Put CoD on Game Pass (and a Game Pass Price Increase), Hellblade II PS5

Following the unexpected move to shut down three game studios and merge another with ZeniMax Online, we learned that Microsoft is still planning more cuts to its Xbox division. But that's not the full extent of the company's re-evaluation of its gaming strategy.

According to The Verge's Tom Warren, Microsoft is still pondering whether to put Call of Duty on Game Pass. Call of Duty is a big driver of Activision Blizzard's revenue, after all, and there are concerns that adding the games to the subscription service could reduce that revenue as players stop purchasing Call of Duty at full price to get it on Game Pass.

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Of course, Microsoft has previously announced it will bring Call of Duty and all the rest of Activision Blizzard's lineup to Game Pass, albeit staggered throughout 2024. The first game to take the plunge was Diablo IV, which was added to the subscription service in late March.

Needless to say, if Microsoft decided to break that promise, it would further damage its already tarnished reputation with gamers. Still, there's precedent for that happening. After all, Phil Spencer said just a year ago that he didn't want to go against the creative aspirations of Xbox's teams, such as Tango's when they made Hi-Fi Rush, and yet the studio was unceremoniously closed as well.

Weirdly enough, according to another The Verge report, Xbox Studios head Matt Booty told employees just yesterday in a town hall meeting that they needed smaller games providing awards and prestige, which is a perfect definition of Hi-Fi Rush.

Anyway, Tom Warren also heard Microsoft might be looking to increase the price of Game Pass Ultimate (again - it already did so less than a year ago, though the United States were unaffected), although it's not certain that will happen.

Last but certainly not least, even the exclusivity status of Ninja Theory's Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is under