It was a high-risk launch for Microsoft and apparently everything is going well. Satya Nadella, the CEO of the Redmond firm, has just mentioned the case of sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 which are reaching new heights. Explanations.
Good news for Microsoft… and Sony
The title published by Activision Blizzard, bought by the Tech giant for $69 billion, has set a new record for the number of players for the first day and new subscribers to Xbox Game Pass which gives direct access to the game The company did not give further details on this subject.
Satya Nadella, however, emphasizes: “Unit sales on PlayStation and Steam also increased by 60% compared to the previous year. This speaks to our strategy to meet gamers where they are by allowing them to play more games on the screens they spend their time on.”. A way to calm critics of Sony, which has long opposed this takeover.
A sign of the success of this startup, the American operator Comcast boasted “the biggest week in internet history” in the United States. The reasons for this increased activity? Downloads of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and the broadcast of important matches of the American football championship.
Controlled marketing
In addition to the simplicity of launching the game on Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft has also not skimped on promotional means. The marketing campaign thus focused on the classics of the game with spectacular stunts in the trailer or notable figures in American political history, such as George HW Bush and Bill Clinton.
Clever, the message conveyed is also very current, as explained by Tyler Bahl, marketing director of Activision at Washington Post : “How can we do something that only Call of Duty can do? How to get into the cultural zeitgeist? This year’s campaign was built on today’s climate, where you no longer even believe what you see in your feed. »
Over the long term, the Call of Duty franchise has now established itself as one of the biggest names in the video game industry. No less than 500 million copies of the game have been sold to date, which places it alongside giants such as Tetris, Pokémon, and Mario. To go further, we invite you to reread our article which discusses the challenges of new games for Xbox and Microsoft.
