Black Ops 6 Had A Record-Setting Debut, As Franchise Passes 500 Million Units Sold
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launched on October 25 and it had an enormous, record-setting debut. The game had the “biggest” three-day opening weekend in franchise history when looking at total number of players, hours played, and matches.
During an earnings call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Black Ops 6’s release on October 25 set a record for new Game Pass subscriber additions on launch day, though he didn’t offer a specific figure. Nadella went on to say that Black Ops 6 sales on PlayStation and Steam were up “over 60% year-over-year” compared against 2023’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.
Modern Warfare III was 2023’s No. 2 best-selling game overall in the US, trailing only Hogwarts Legacy. It will be interesting to see how Black Ops 6 stacks up in terms of unit sales, but that comparison won’t be perfect, of course, because many people will play Black Ops 6 on Game Pass without buying the game outright. But people are buying Call of Duty games–and lots of them. According to The Washington Post, the Call of Duty series has now passed 500 million copies sold since the franchise debuted in 2003.