Call of Duty Game Pass Removal Raises Questions as Player Engagement Numbers Continue to Decline

Modern Warfare 4 is reportedly struggling to match Black Ops 7's player engagement, raising concerns about Microsoft's decision to remove Call of Duty from Game Pass.

Microsoft's relationship with Call of Duty and XBOX Game Pass has become a tricky balancing act, especially as the company tries to make its subscription service cheaper while still ensuring the franchise is a commercial hit. Black Ops 6's arrival on Game Pass has brought in impressive numbers. Yet another big reason for subscribers to use the service.

Black Ops 7, however, didn't do quite as well, considering that it was also part of the subscription. Microsoft decided to lower the price of Game Pass and also remove Call of Duty from the service. The Hope was that a lower subscription price would bring in more players.

In part, the move was motivated by a desire to boost Game Pass subscriptions after the last price hike.

But there was also an expectation that Call of Duty would continue to deliver at the level of its earlier releases. But the most recent player engagement numbers indicate that removing the franchise from Game Pass may have created a new issue for Microsoft. A lower subscription price might help Game Pass, but the move seems to have affected how many people play Call of Duty.

By the numbers being reported, Microsoft's Game Pass decision has been a clear failure, according to Call of Duty leaker Ghost of Hope. The leaker argues that XBOX is missing a huge part of its player base by not offering the franchise through its subscription service. These players previously could access the latest releases without buying them separately. 

Reports say engagement numbers are down across platforms like PS5 and XBOX. Circana shared numbers for Modern Warfare 4, which had 19% of active players on PS5, 17% on XBOX, and 4.2% on Steam at launch. Black Ops 7, by contrast, achieved a 23% share on PS5, 29% on Xbox, and 1.5% on Steam at launch. 

Black Ops 7 figures also include PS4 players, but they allegedly represented less than 1% of the total. Even with that small contribution, Modern Warfare 4 still lags behind its predecessor in reported active player percentages on PS5 and Xbox. Some players might even find Modern Warfare 4 a better game than Black Ops 7, though that's a matter of opinion. But the numbers suggest the latest release won't capture the same level of engagement as a previous entry that was already considered a down year for Call of Duty.

Also note that XBOX has not released any official sales numbers.

The company has not updated on sales of the latest release, with speculation that Microsoft is deliberately avoiding the subject because the numbers are not meeting expectations. Without official figures, it is hard to say exactly how much the Game Pass removal has hit sales. The lack of transparency has also left players questioning the game's commercial performance.

This situation also puts Asha Sharma in a tough spot as Microsoft tries to balance the needs of Game Pass and Call of Duty. It wasn't necessarily a bad decision to pull the franchise from the subscription service, especially with the pressure to make Game Pass more affordable. The previous subscription price was an issue, and Microsoft wanted to drop it to get more people to subscribe. But dropping one of the service's biggest gaming franchises seems to have created a different problem.

We all know Game Pass is helping Call of Duty by bringing more players into each new release. A larger player base also means more opportunities to spend, especially on in-game purchases. The more people can get a game without paying full retail price, the more likely they are to spend on other content. 

The bigger question is whether Microsoft factored in those extra income streams when it pulled Call of Duty from Game Pass. Subscription services eating into traditional game sales is a lot of talk, but not the whole story. A player who doesn't buy a $70 game can still contribute to its revenue through microtransactions. 

XBOX could also lose some of that revenue to competing platforms.

Someone who played Call of Duty via Game Pass may want to buy the game on PS5 instead of paying full price on Xbox. Then they could continue to purchase microtransactions through that platform. If that happens, XBOX would miss out on revenue it could have earned if the player continued to play through its subscription service.

Ghost of Hope's argument has been supported to a certain degree by players who have shared their personal experiences. One user said he purchased the Ultimate Edition upgrade for Call of Duty in both 2024 and 2025, despite having no interest in spending money on the full-price releases. 

Of course, this is just one player's experience, and not indicative of the spending habits of the entire Call of Duty community. However, it does highlight a potential issue with removing the franchise from Game Pass. Microsoft may also lose additional microtransaction revenue from those subscribers when they played the games through the service. 

In the end, taking Call of Duty out of Game Pass doesn't automatically make it a bad business decision.

The lower subscription price is certainly attractive, especially for players unhappy with the previous price. But now Microsoft has to figure out how to keep Game Pass attractive, while also making sure Call of Duty remains commercially successful. That subscription service could bring more engagement and spending to the franchise, but it may be hard to keep the price below $30 and still offer the same benefits.

Call of Duty fatigue could also be a factor in the franchise's struggles. For years now, players have had annual releases, and the excitement around each new entry might not be as strong as it used to be. GTA could be a factor too, but thefranchise'ss declining engagement has been discussed for a while. 

This has been speculated ever since XBOX bought Activision and the Call of Duty franchise. Longer gaps between releases might keep the series more interesting and would help make each one more distinctive. If the numbers keep declining, Microsoft and Activision may need to rethink their yearly release model.