Microsoft's ambition to become the "Netflix of video games" faces a huge test this week with the release of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 6" on Friday. The US software giant bought the game's publisher Activision-Blizzard a year ago for $69 billion in the sector's biggest takeover. Activision's prized asset was the "Call of Duty" franchise, one of the world's best-selling games, and Friday's release will be the first in the series to be available from day one on Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscription service. The game will also be available to PlayStation users -- as well as on PC. Mat Piscatella from analyst firm Circana told AFP it was "the biggest push" anyone had made to bolster a subscription platform. Video game companies once made their money from selling hard copies of their games to players who were plugged into consoles. But the industry now gets its profits from in-game sales and subscriptions on a model like Netflix or Disney+. "How consumers react may result in a dramatic industry shift to -- or away -- from the subscription model," said Piscatella of the "Call of Duty" release.
Microsoft is not messing about with its ambitions for Game Pass. It has a target of 100 million customers by 2030. But the industry has slowed since the boom-time of the pandemic when much of the world spent time confined to their homes. As of February this year, Game Pass had around 34 million subscribers. For Friday's release, Microsoft has rejigged its pricing and only subscribers to the most expensive "Ultimate" tier will get the game as it launches. Despite the vital importance of the game to Microsoft's business, the makers were keen to promote the strengths of the game itself. "There's really something for everyone with Black Ops 6," Stephanie Snowden, communications head at Call of Duty Studios, told AFP on the sidelines of a promotional event in London. Players are plunged into an alternate reality of conspiracy and paranoia during the 1991 Gulf War. But she insisted the game was not saying anything about contemporary divisions in the United States, or the forthcoming presidential election. "We consider it like a giant blockbuster moment and entertainment moment of the year," she said. "But we're not sending any kind of political message."
The saga has generated more than $30 billion in revenue worldwide in a little over 20 years. But Brian Comiskey of the Consumer Technology Association, an industry group, said Microsoft got more than just a straightforward gaming title when it bought Activision. "It's not just a game, it's a community," he told AFP. The first "Call of Duty" games were pioneers by allowing many players to join the same game online. Many of those players have grown up together, playing the game with each other no matter where they are in the world. "Video gaming is a social media platform and Call of Duty has been doing that for a very long time," said Comiskey. So these older players may well get involved even if the game itself is not so impressive. "The interest isn't necessarily always the content," he said. "That's just a cherry on top."
Did you know a new “Call of Duty” game is launching this week? If not, Microsoft would probably pay to find out where you’ve been hiding, because the tech giant has shelled out a marketing budget comparable to any “major motion picture blockbuster that would be launching this year,” according to Tyler Bahl, the chief marketing officer at “Call of Duty” studio Activision, to get “Black Ops 6” on every consumer’s radar, from taking over People Magazine’s iconic “Sexiest Man Alive” cover to infiltrating “Monday Night Football.”
The launch of “Black Ops 6” marks the first mainline “Call of Duty” game to be released since Microsoft closed its $76 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard, the largest video game acquisition ever made, in October 2023. With the choice to offer the title to Xbox’s Game Pass customers when it goes live on Friday, Microsoft is driving home the importance of its subscription service to its overall revenue strategy and putting a lot of faith in Activision’s biggest franchise’s ability to boost the product.
From Activision’s Treyarch, “Black Ops 6,” which will be available across Xbox, PlayStation and PC, is set in an alternate history 1991 following rogue operatives Troy Marshall and Frank Woods as they assemble a team of agents to hunt down Pantheon, a mysterious group that has infiltrated the CIA and targeted outsiders as traitors to the U.S. The game is also reintroducing the fan-favorite “Round-Based Zombies” mode to the franchise.
At a time when new AAA games are competing with thousands of mobile titles, MMORPGs and the never-ending “Fortnite” for gamers’ attention, Bahl would of course be happy for you to buy “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” on Day 1, but settle for you at least knowing there is a “Black Ops 6.”
“Obviously, we want to generate sales, but I think overall, just awareness of the new game coming out,” Bahl told Variety. “That’s always a focus, making ‘Black Ops 6’ the No. 1 game this fall. Overall, I just want people to like the campaign and the work that we’re doing as marketing group. I think some of the work is really innovative. Like we’re not just making a spot, the Replacer is showing up in all these weird and different places that are truly exciting. That’s what gets me excited, when he’s on ‘Monday Night Football’ and he’s doing something with Scott Van Pelt. And you everyone from my little brother to a grandparent is going, ‘I saw a “Black Ops 6″ commercial on ‘Monday Night Football,’ and him chasing Scott Van Pelt with a football machine.’ Obviously, there’s hard metrics, but the litmus test for me is when we entered the cultural zeitgeist. That’s when we see true success.”
This Replacer character Bahl is referring to is a figure steeped in “Black Ops” marketing lore, whom fans sorely missed when he wasn’t present in the campaign for “Black Ops Cold War” in 2020. After reading enough comments from the community asking where the Replacer was, Bahl and his team decided they had to “leverage” this Replacer withdrawal as much as possible by putting him on billboards, in TV shows, at live events and anywhere else they could ostensibly “replace” something prior to “Black Ops 6” dropping — including an NFL quarterback.
The replacing hasn’t stopped in the weeks since that trailer launched, with the Replacer showing up at a Los Angeles Rams football game this weekend to take over a few jobs at the stadium, including the mascot on the field.
The marketing machine for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has been fairly active over the last month, thanks in part to actor Peter Stormare's playlist of meme-worthy Replacer adverts. Things have come full circle now, as the Replacer isn't just content with being the new Pope or a beloved sports mascot: He's now taking over for some of the biggest internet memes of all time--or at least the ones that have outlasted the 15 seconds of fame that most new memes have when they first go viral. You can see the full collection through this link.
The official Call of Duty X (formerly Twitter) account revealed that the Replacer has replaced several of your favorite memes, including all-time classics Leonardo DiCaprio Pointing, The Great Gatsby toast, overly excited Jonah Hill, and even Homer Simpson backing into the bushes. While it's not listed in the original post, the Replacer has even replaced that one guy who looks suspiciously like him in the John Wick Chapter 2 meme about focus, commitment, and sheer willpower. How many can you recognize in the post below?
Dear internet, the internet's favorite GIFs are off today playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Replace your GIFs at 👉 https://t.co/QQrl9NnqPW pic.twitter.com/qNSyzeD1fK
If you're wondering why the star of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 and Constantine is seemingly everywhere these days, that's thanks to Activision reviving the Replacer for Black Ops 6. It's a role that Stormare has played in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Black Ops 3, and Black Ops 4. So far, we've seen him replace French rapper JUL, political analysts, a Sky News sports host, and your dad. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches on PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC on October 25, and in related news, you can see just how long the Black Ops 6 campaign is, how the progression and prestige systems work, and why the controversial Riot Shield won't be available at launch.
