Microsoft to Announce Xbox Game Showcase and Changes to GamePass

TapTechNews May 17th news, Microsoft announced that it will hold the "Xbox Games Showcase and █████ Direct" on June 10th, and TheVerge said Microsoft will bring the sequel to Call of Duty in this showcase.

Microsoft Xbox president Sarah Bond also said a few days ago that Microsoft will launch the Xbox mobile game app store in July this year, and also confirmed that all first-party games including Call of Duty will debut on GamePass.

The Wall Street Journal said that Microsoft plans to make a major adjustment to its game sales strategy and is preparing to include the next Call of Duty game in its GamePass subscription service.

Insiders revealed that this plan marks the biggest change in Microsoft's game division since the completion of its $75 billion (TapTechNews note: currently about 541.5 billion yuan) acquisition of Activision Blizzard and will be announced at the company's annual Xbox showcase next month. Sources believe that Microsoft's move will help strengthen its GamePass subscription service.

According to TheVerge's previous report, Microsoft is indeed discussing whether to add this year's Call of Duty game (allegedly a new work in the Black Ops series with the background of the Gulf War period) to its subscription service for the first time, and Microsoft is also considering raising the price of GamePass.

Microsoft is facing severe doubts due to the potential "content cannibalization" effect of GamePass, especially for first-party new works that join GamePass on the first day of release. Although Xbox executives insist that GamePass can boost sales by allowing more players to access the game, some publishers remain skeptical. Unlike Microsoft, console competitor Sony will not directly add its new exclusive games to its subscription service.