The director of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 believes returning players will contribute to the series’ biggest launch ever.
Microsoft, which now owns publisher Activision-Blizzard, recently said that the latest installment of the massive shooter franchise set new records for first-day players and its Game Pass membership.
It was the first Call of Duty title to be released on the service since purchasing Activision-Blizzard in a $69 billion (£59 billion at the time) deal.
Developer Treyarch’s Miles Leslie told BBC Newsbeat that he believes the new set-up has played a role in increasing the numbers.
Game Pass allows members to download titles on Xbox and PC for a monthly fee, like Netflix.
Miles says this gives Call of Duty’s developers “another opportunity to really get the game into the hands of players.”
“We’ve seen that it allows people who may have been on the fence, maybe had some friction, maybe were like, ‘I haven’t played in a while,’ to actually come back and try the game. Do,” he tells Newsbeat.
The latest release also takes a trip down memory lane with a revamp of Zombies – one of Call of Duty’s most beloved modes – and an update to fan-favorite multiplayer map Nuketown.
“We’ve gotten to the point now where Black Ops and Call of Duty have been around for so long – I’ve been working on it for 16 years,” Miles says.
“And really the challenge for us is how do you bring together the fans who love Call of Duty, but how do you create an environment where you can welcome new fans?”
Black Ops 6 was seen testing Microsoft’s Activision buyout and company boss Satya Nadella said it set a record for new subscribers on launch day – though he didn’t say exactly how many.
He also said that sales on PlayStation – where the largest audiences of Call of Duty play – and PC platform Steam were 60% higher than in 2023.
This may be linked to the less positive reception of last year’s Modern Warfare III and the fact that the Black Ops installments are the series’ most popular.
The real test of its success will be whether the people who signed up to play Black Ops 6 stick around.
Miles says for a game like Black Ops 6, which constantly gets new multiplayer content updates between each release, it’s up to the developers to keep players engaged.
This means keeping a close eye on how the experienced and new players are progressing.
“The main thing is, are they having fun? Where are the friction points? And we’re analyzing that,” he says.
“You’ll never know how it will be received until it’s in the hands of millions of players.
“It’s come out and it’s been really positive.
“There are obviously things we can improve on and we’ve got our finger on the pulse of the community so we can listen to those things and analyze them and really attack and fix them in the right ways. “
