Take-Two CEO believes Call of Duty Game Pass will boost for a while: report
Microsoft announced in May that the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 would be available day one on Xbox Game Pass when it launches on October 25. The Xbox parent is likely expecting its Game Pass subscriber base to grow with the launch of the popular first-person shooter on the service. While Microsoft made a big gamble by bringing Call of Duty to Game Pass, don’t expect major third-party studios to follow suit. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has said that putting Call of Duty on Game Pass would likely bring new subscribers to the service “for a period of time,” but the company has no plans to do the same with its new triple-A releases.
Speaking with GamesIndustry.bizZelnick said that including a big title like Call of Duty at launch would help boost Game Pass numbers for a while. “I think offering a premium-priced front-line title in a subscription service, day-and-date, will drive consumers to that subscription service for at least a period of time,” he said.
However, the Take-Two boss has no plans to bring the company’s upcoming titles to Game Pass. “No, it won’t affect our decisions. Because our decisions are rational,” Zelnick said.
Zelnick’s comments come after Take-Two reported its first-quarter financial results, where net bookings stood at $1.22 billion (roughly Rs. 10,242 crore), just below analyst expectations of $1.25 billion (roughly Rs. 10,494 crore). However, the company is expecting a boost in net bookings in fiscal years 2026 and 2027, with the much-anticipated launch of Grand Theft Auto 6 slated for next year.
There is no concrete release date yet for GTA 6, but Take-Two has set the game’s release date for fall 2025.
Activision is gearing up for the October 25 launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the next installment in the popular first-person shooter franchise. Microsoft confirmed in May that the upcoming game would be the first Call of Duty title available on Game Pass launch day and date.
Days after the announcement, Xbox parent company raised prices for Game Pass across all tiers and regions, and introduced a new “Standard” tier that excludes titles released at launch.
