With Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 inching ever closer to its release date, it seems that Microsoft is pinning its hopes on the new release, among others, to stage a comeback for the Xbox and its Game Pass subscription service. The console has been the recipient of a lot of negative news in recent times, being overtaken by rivals like the Sony Playstation and Nintendo Switch.

However, the Xbox’s presence as a titan of modern gaming has many of its fans hopeful that Microsoft can turn things around for its console while fixing the mistakes that have brought it to where it currently is.

The Xbox’s Turbulent Current-Gen Journey

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Xbox Game Pass’ new pricing and revised offerings have not gone down well with its subscribers.

The Xbox’s decline in popularity among consoles has come about as a result of several unfortunate decisions by Microsoft, with a recent increase in Xbox Game Pass prices coupled with removal of key features being among them. Despite its legal victory over the FTC regarding the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the commission has once again launched a fresh assault on what it deems unfair practices by the company.

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Legal issues aside, a lack of quality games for the Xbox coupled with a bevy of excellent console-exclusive titles from Sony for the PlayStation have further compounded its problems. The Switch has emerged as a strong contender among the current generation of consoles with its innovative design trouncing both the Xbox and PlayStation in the handheld gaming space.

However, Microsoft is certainly optimistic about turning things around if recent projections are any indication.

Can Xbox Game Pass Recover Its Losses?

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 continues the explosive narrative from previous titles with fresh new twists to its gameplay.

Fans of the Xbox and Game Pass have posted about a recent projection for the service, indicating that Microsoft expects significant growth in its subscriptions for 2025. With an average increase of 35% in revenue from each user according to a report from Ampere Analysis, Microsoft would certainly hope that the addition of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 to the Game Pass Ultimate tier would influence more than a few buying decisions.

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Fan reactions have been mixed, however, with many being skeptical of the new pricing’s ability to reel in additional subscriptions.

As some players point out, a better source of revenue would be games that are held to a higher standard – which is quite practical considering that Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was unable to scale the dizzying heights of its predecessor.

Others seem to believe that the new projections would need nothing short of a miracle to achieve.

Other players are outright disdainful of these projections, believing that it is impossible for Game Pass to achieve growth in the wake of its waning player count.

As both Xbox fans and the gaming industry as a whole would benefit from Microsoft turning things around, perhaps it’s time that Microsoft took some steps towards earning back the trust of its customers and further tweak Xbox Game Pass to deliver value propositions that can make it hard to resist for potential subscribers- just as it has done in the past.

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