Xbox’s Hike on Game Pass Shows Cost of Lost ‘Call of Duty’ Sales

(Bloomberg) – Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox section, the company’s highest level in Game Pass subscription service, a 50% price increase in this week surprised many video game enthusiasts this week.

Online reaction Swift, California Governor Gavin Newsom, accused President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and video game retailer Gamestop Corp., released a cartoon that suggests that customers would only be better than buying games in stores.

According to interviews with existing and old Xbox employees, price increase and other changes in game transition plans are a sign that it still does not produce income after eight years after the launch of the major flow pressure of Xbox. The company puts some of the best topics in the flow service, but this cuts the sales of higher margin games such as Call of Duty, with the acquisition of Microsoft’s 2023 Activision Blizzard Inc.

According to one of the former employees who want to discuss internal forecasts, the Xbox gave up last year’s Call of Call of Call of Call of Call of Call of Call of Call of Call of Call of Call of Call of Call.

“Game Pass did not grow the expected explosives after activation and noticed that infrastructure costs are not compatible with pricing models, Jo

The Xbox spokesman refused to comment for this story.

The company has lost its dominance race in the game equipment that develops special titles that prove that Sony Group Corp. PlayStation and Nintendo Co.’s Switch has been expanded with fans. Game Pass, which offers games for a monthly fee, is a potential growth tool that offers stable, repeatable income for Xbox.

Netflix Inc. and Walt Disney Co. Like other entertainment companies, Xbox started the flow service at a relatively low price. In 2017, it cost 10 dollars per month for more than 100 matches. All of these were old titles. A year later, Xbox announced that he would offer his own new games without paying extra fees on the day they were released.

Existing and former employees said the movement was controversially controversial. It can take years to develop new video games and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and the model has long been to sell them for a long time, selling them for $ 60 to 70 dollars, more upgrades and in -game purchases. The Game Pass Streaming model rose by putting so many titles on a subscription you can eat.

In the last decade, Microsoft has invested in billions and has purchased some of the most successful video game studios. The $ 69 billion agreement to buy Activision Blizzard was the biggest video game in history. Microsoft told a United Kingdom to acquire new headings for Game Pass.

Put Call of Duty in Game Pass was very big for subscribers, but according to former employees with business knowledge, it wasn’t great for Xbox’s sale. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the latest recurrence of the shooting title, is the biggest video game for the franchise, which originated from Sony’s PlayStation, which made up 82% of sales in the USA and 82% of sales in the USA last year.

According to IGN, subscription income increased by 16% in industry due to customers playing new Call of Duty in Game Pass. Some may have paid for one or two months, and the industry may be canceled unlike the old model that they will pay $ 70 and have the game.

On the contrary, Sony does not offer big new games such as Call of Duty the day they are published in the subscription service called PlayStation Plus.

In September, former Xbox Game Studios Vice President Shannon Loftis wrote in LinkedIn that Game Pass said, “Otherwise, he could demand a few victories with games that will sink under the waves (human fall straight, for example). [Game Pass] Retail comes at the expense of income. ”Loftis refused to comment more on Bloomberg.

In general, the game industry has been struggling in recent years, players spend more time on existing topics and do not take much chance to new ones. In September 2024, Microsoft was cut in January 1,900 months ago and then cut 650 work in the Xbox unit. This year, he brought more dismissal and at least four games were canceled. Microsoft Chief Finance Manager Amy Hood asked Xbox to find other ways to increase the profit, according to existing and former employees.

Former President of the Federal Trade Commission, who sued Microsoft in a failed manner to prevent the Activision merger, said in an article on Friday, “Microsoft’s purchase of Activision is followed by important price increases and dismissals that harm both player and developers”.

After an increase during PANDEM, the growth rate of the Game Pass slowed down from 80% to 2022 and 2024 to 36% between 2020 and 2021. Subscribers were 34 million in February 2024, and the company shared the data last.

Xbox said the Game Pass is profitable and that the income for the financial year, which ended in June, reached approximately $ 5 billion.

On October 1, Xbox announced three pricing layers for Game Pass. Fans can pay $ 10 per month, $ 15 per month for 200 games and $ 30 for more than 400 games, including 75 games, including 75 on the same day for consoles. This list will include curiously anticipated new topics such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and outer worlds 2.

“We know that everyone does not want the same thing in Xbox experiences, so we are developing Game Pass to provide more flexibility, choice and value to all players,” the company said in a press release.

So if you want to play these expensive new titles with Game Pass on the first day, you’ll have to pay more for subscription.

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