My friends had a lot of fun with Black Ops 6, yet Call of Duty did not retain them as long-term players.
Black Ops 6 is the first Call of Duty that is playable through the Game Pass. This led to record numbers at the release of the shooter: never had a Call of Duty more players on launch day.
While we can only speculate about Microsoft’s and Activision’s exact goals, one thing seems pretty sure: The Game Pass should ensure that old players return to CoD and new players find their way to the game for the first time – and stay.
Based on the successful release, it seems that this plan has worked. But is that really the case? In my circle of friends, it feels different – yet we have spent several hours in Black Ops 6 together.
I prefer playing shooters with 2 friends. To protect their privacy, I will call them Max and Moritz here. The three of us actually play every shooter together, but it all started with Ubisoft’s cash cow Rainbow Six: Siege. Max and Moritz played Black Ops 6 through a 14-day free trial of the Game Pass. This trial has now expired.
“Worse than playing against cheaters in Rainbow Six: Siege”
I also played Black Ops 6 with Max and Moritz. However, both struggled to enjoy the shooter. While they had a lot of fun in the zombie mode and Moritz found the campaign quite successful, neither of them really liked the multiplayer.
Moritz even became quite angry. One evening he kept cursing and frustratedly left an ongoing match twice within an hour. He grumbled: “I’d rather play 10 hours straight in Rainbow Six against cheaters.” After that, he never touched the multiplayer again.
In general, Max and Moritz spent most of their time in the zombie mode. They really liked it, and during the 14-day trial we at least completed the Easter Egg of Liberty Falls – but I will have to play Terminus alone.
14 days were enough to realize that 80 € is too expensive
After the 14-day trial, both Max and Moritz decided not to extend the Game Pass for a fee or to buy Black Ops 6 for 80 €. They just find it too expensive for a game that only has one mode they really enjoy.
And here’s the problem with Black Ops 6 in the Game Pass: 2 weeks are enough to play through the campaign, complete the Easter Eggs in the zombie mode, and lose interest in the multiplayer. For other players, this process might take 2 months, but let’s be honest: Do you still see yourself playing Black Ops 6 in the coming April or May?
The player numbers on Steam show that a new Call of Duty loses thousands of players by January or February after its release (via Steamcharts). So one must ask whether Microsoft’s plan with the Game Pass is truly successful if many players use it to peek into the latest CoD at a low cost and then turn their backs on the game after a few weeks or months.
The best CoD in years, but just a CoD
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a Call of Duty – obviously. Nothing more and nothing less. I even go one step further and say: Black Ops 6 is the best Call of Duty in years.
But because Black Ops 6 is “just” a Call of Duty and not a completely new franchise, it comes with the familiar problems that many players criticize and that also prevent my friends from enjoying the multiplayer long-term: SBMM, poor spawns on small maps, and frequent Packet Burst.
Moreover, each of you already knows the multiplayer and its gameplay from years past. My friends Max and Moritz have also played it for countless hours in various CoDs. Black Ops 6 introduced an exciting innovation with Omnimovement, but the multiplayer itself does not reinvent the wheel.
Activision therefore demands 80 € for a game that has the same issues that have existed for years and relies on the same modes that we have been playing for ages.
My friends therefore faced a choice with three options:
- I let the subscription continue to play Black Ops 6 until I have spent so much money on the subscription that I should have just bought the game directly.
- I buy Black Ops 6 for 80 Euros.
- I do neither, stop playing Black Ops 6, and just play something else.
The third option even leaves the possibility to buy the game eventually on sale. And that’s exactly what Max and Moritz decided. They are not buying the game for 80 € and are not going to let a subscription run for months; rather, they will get it – if at all – at a discount.
Maybe I just need to gift some Game Pass durations when I want to play the zombie mode of Black Ops 6 with Max and Moritz again. But first, I’ll check our overview to see in which subscription models the shooter is actually included: CoD Black Ops 6 in the Game Pass: Which version can you play “for free” at release?
