Après un an de restructuration difficile, Microsoft Gaming célèbre un succès éclatant avec le lancement de « Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 », qui a établi des records de ventes et d’inscriptions au Game Pass. Malgré les licenciements et la fermeture de studios suite à l’acquisition d’Activision, les ventes sur PlayStation et Steam ont augmenté de 60 %. Avec une approche de développement plus expérimentale, ce nouvel opus a suscité des critiques élogieuses, marquant un retour en force pour la franchise après un précédent échec avec « Modern Warfare 3 ».
After nearly a year of challenging restructuring, Microsoft Gaming is reaping the rewards of its efforts.
« Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 » has achieved the most successful launch in the history of this leading gaming franchise in the console market. The latest installment from Activision not only set new records for day-one and weekend sales but also reached an unprecedented number of new Game Pass subscribers in a single day. According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, sales figures on PlayStation and Steam increased by 60% compared to the previous release.
The audible sigh of relief from Xbox’s leadership team likely reached new heights.
Microsoft finalized its $69 billion acquisition in October 2023, during which time the tech giant undertook significant restructuring within its gaming sector, resulting in approximately 2,900 job layoffs and the closure or sale of several studios, such as when Krafton acquired Tango Gameworks, the studio behind “Hi-Fi Rush,” before it was set to be closed.
Despite a robust lineup of games showcased at this summer’s Xbox event that generated enthusiastic feedback, the first-party game release pipeline remains sluggish, with many titles still without confirmed launch dates. Loyal Xbox fans have also faced challenges accepting Microsoft’s decisions to make previous exclusives available on PlayStation, including upcoming first-party titles like « Indiana Jones and the Great Circle » set to release in December.
The layoffs at Microsoft Gaming this year predominantly impacted the newly integrated teams from Activision, Blizzard, and King, which was a somber yet anticipated outcome following such a large acquisition. The publisher of « Grand Theft Auto, » Take-Two Interactive, reported a $2.9 billion loss in the first quarter, a result of its $12.7 billion purchase of Zynga in 2022, citing goodwill costs and continuing workforce reductions into 2024.
The launch of “Black Ops 6” not only turns the tide on Xbox’s negative cost-reduction narrative but also compensates for a disappointing earlier period for “Call of Duty” in 2023, when “Modern Warfare 3” fell short of expectations and experienced a decline in sales compared to the record-breaking launch of 2022’s “Modern Warfare 2.” Warner Bros.’ « Hogwarts Legacy » became the top-selling game of 2023, surpassing « Call of Duty » in a manner not seen since Rockstar Games achieved it in 2009.
Currently, “Call of Duty” operates with four main development teams that alternate as lead developers each year, prompting questions about this strategy after « Modern Warfare 3 » from Sledgehammer Games did not achieve the same success as Infinity Ward’s earlier entry.
This time, the lead studio Treyarch benefited from an additional year to refine “Black Ops 6” following its previous title “Black Ops Cold War,” which launched with the new Xbox Series consoles in 2020. This extended development period proved advantageous, particularly as Raven Software, previously a support studio, took the lead on the “Black Ops 6” campaign, which has garnered positive acclaim.
Notably, this marks the first time Treyarch has stepped back from leading the “Black Ops” campaigns, a domain where they have historically faced challenges (2018’s “Black Ops 4” completely omitted a campaign mode, making it the only annual “Call of Duty” game to do so).
This shift signifies a welcome willingness to experiment with development strategies for “Call of Duty,” made possible during the preceding leadership of Bobby Kotick as they negotiated the exit strategy ahead of the sale to Microsoft. Maintaining a multiplatform presence is fundamental for the franchise’s sales, which appear unaffected by the introduction of Xbox Game Pass as a distribution channel.
Xbox Game Pass and its PC counterpart have long been highlighted as key attractions for Xbox consoles, especially as PlayStation consoles saw their sales explode over the past decade. While Sony’s gaming environment offers various subscription choices through PlayStation Plus, none provide consistent day-one access to new console exclusives like Game Pass. Additionally, PS Plus Premium’s support for game streaming on PC differs from the download capabilities of Xbox’s PC Pass.
Although “Black Ops 6” was available to Xbox’s console and PC subscribers and set a record for new sign-ups in a single day, on its opening weekend, the game recorded higher concurrent player counts on Steam than the last two “Call of Duty” releases, according to SteamDB tracking.
The precise financial ramifications will remain unclear for an additional three months, but it is evident that Microsoft’s strategy of incorporating « Call of Duty » and its entire corporate structure is beginning to yield positive results.
Après presque un an de restructuration difficile,