UK launch sales for Activision’s latest entry in the Call of Duty series, Black Ops 6, are 10% lower than those of the prior entry, Modern Warfare 3.
Christopher Dring, head of GameIndustry.biz, took to Twitter/X to talk about the UK physical sales for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. According to him, launch sales are 10% lower compared to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. He added that this is almost entirely due to a drop in sales on Xbox, which was inevitable due to the game being available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Dring also reported that PS5 sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops VI remain steady year-on-year in comparison to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, suggesting that the former’s availability on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at launch has not affected PS5 sales, as some had estimated. At least, this is the case for the UK. Meanwhile, digital data for the game is yet to come. Simiarly, NPD sales data for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 in the US has yet to be revealed.
Digital media and entertainment software analyst Michael Pachter believes that the Call of Duty franchise is a major catalyst in the potential growth of Xbox Game Pass. According to him, Call of Duty being on Xbox Game Pass along with other Activision titles will push it past 50 million subscribers. Pachter also believes that, instead of purchasing a copy of the latest Call of Duty title for PlayStation, fans are more likely to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass and gain access to the latest entry in addition to many other titles. However, this is not reflected in the UK launch sales for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, as the PS5 version of the game remain steady year-on-year compared to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. On the other hand, as expected, sales of the Xbox version have seen a 10% decline.
