Call of Duty is officially coming to cloud game streaming services this month, marking a new era for the landmark video game series.
Call of Duty has made over $31 billion in lifetime revenue, and a big part of that is because the games really weren't permanently made available on game subscription services. Titles have showed up on PS Plus, and Call of Duty briefly popped up on NVIDIA's GeForce Now streaming service, but for the most part gamers have had to pay $20 - $70 just to access the titles. That doesn't include the billions generated through microtransactions.
All of that changed when Microsoft acquired Activision for $70 billion. The company made clear its intent to bring mega-hits like Call of Duty to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service, a move that could devalue the franchise in the short-term, but deliver strong service-oriented subscription revenues in the long-term. Now Microsoft has announced that Call of Duty games are also coming to cloud gaming in a bid to deliver the live service-driven game to consumers who may not have gaming consoles or PCs.
"We're thrilled to reveal that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be playable with Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) for Game Pass Ultimate members at launch and will begin rolling out to players on October 25, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. PT.
"In addition, we're also bringing Xbox Cloud Gaming support to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone for Game Pass Ultimate members on the same day.
"Players will be able to access multiple Call of Duty games with Xbox Cloud Gaming for the first time, and Game Pass Ultimate members will be able to enjoy Call of Duty in more places than ever before, including on their consoles, PCs, mobile devices, select Samsung TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Meta Quest devices."
The FTC v Microsoft trial indicated that Call of Duty could come to PlayStation Plus' cloud streaming as well, and even show up on Sony's PlayStation Plus service as a dedicated game.
But that's only if Sony pays the licensing fee to secure Call of Duty for its subscription service, which is said to be quite high.
Also, Microsoft has shifted the cloud game streaming rights to a third-party company, Ubisoft, who is prohibited to offer any kind of Activision content exclusivity under the Ubisoft Divestment Agreement that MSFT made with UK regulators at the CMA.
"Ubisoft may not grant Microsoft an exclusive licence to the Activision Games, and any such purported licence would be null and void," reads part of the agreement.