Microsoft has no intention of sitting idle by just inducting franchises like Call of Duty into its Xbox portfolio after acquiring Activision Blizzard. The next goal is to increase the player-base and make the games even more popular.
Speaking with Axios reporter Stephen Totilo in a recent interview, Xbox chief Phil Spencer stated that he wants Call of Duty to increase its player-base in the coming five years. Warzone alone has more than 100 million players but Spencer is confident that those player numbers can be improved because Microsoft will be making “it more accessible to more people.”
The goal to increase the player-base extends to other franchises as well such as World of Warcraft and Candy Crush, which currently have around 5 million and under 300 million players respectively.
Spencer: “Yeah, I want more people to be playing WoW in five years that are playing today. I want more people to be playing Call of Duty in five years, more people to be playing Candy Crush in five years, because we've made it more accessible to more people.”
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) February 8, 2022
Spencer previously stated that Game Pass will get as many Activision Blizzard games as possible once the acquisition concludes. Game Pass has more than 25 million subscribers right now and making Call of Duty games available on the platform will certainly boost player numbers.
The notion probably suggests that Microsoft will forego making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox consoles, a move which industry analysts believe will be blocked by gaming regulators.
However, in the same vein, both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 will be Xbox exclusive, making the goal of increasing player numbers contradictory by excluding a major platform.
Back to Spencer: "I honestly mean… you can see it with Forza and Halo the last releases. Those are the most played games in those franchises because we made them available on more screens than we ever have, through more business models than we've ever made them available."
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) February 8, 2022
The future status of Call of Duty has been a major question for players following the acquisition announcement. The franchise has generally received a new installment across all platforms every year, but which might be on the verge of change. Activision Blizzard has reportedly been discussing to ditch the annual releases once the acquisition is done.
