Key Points
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches on Xbox Cloud Gaming on October 25, allowing Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to stream the game across various platforms.
- Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone will also be available on the cloud gaming service the same day.
- This is the first time Call of Duty games are available on Microsoft’s cloud platform, expanding the franchise’s accessibility.
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 introduces new gameplay mechanics, including omnimovement and Supine Prone, enhancing tactical flexibility.
Microsoft is making a significant move by bringing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 to Xbox Cloud Gaming on its release day, October 25. Subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be able to stream the game across multiple platforms, including consoles, PCs, mobile devices, Samsung TVs, Amazon Fire TV, and even Meta Quest devices. This marks the first time a Call of Duty title has been available on Microsoft’s cloud gaming service.
In addition to Black Ops 6, Modern Warfare III and the battle royale game Call of Duty: Warzone will launch on Xbox Cloud Gaming the same day. These popular titles will give Game Pass Ultimate members more ways to experience the franchise from various devices, expanding accessibility for gamers. Ashley McKissick, Xbox VP of Gaming Experiences & Platforms, noted that this expansion allows players to engage with Call of Duty “in more places than ever before,” making it a major moment for Xbox’s cloud platform.
Interestingly, Ubisoft owns the streaming rights to Activision’s games due to a 2023 agreement that helped Microsoft gain regulatory approval to acquire Activision Blizzard. However, Ubisoft has licensed the games back to Microsoft for Xbox Cloud Gaming, showing how these business relationships can adapt and evolve to benefit consumers.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 introduces new gameplay mechanics, adding to its appeal. The game is set in the early 1990s, with a campaign spanning locations such as the Middle East, southern Europe, Russia, and the United States. A new mobility feature, omnimovement, allows players to sprint, slide, and dive in any direction, offering a more dynamic combat experience. Another new mechanic, Supine Prone, enables players to rotate while prone, adding more tactical flexibility.
While Black Ops 6 is the new star of the lineup, Modern Warfare III, a 2023 installment in the franchise, is also coming to the cloud gaming platform. Despite being one of the lowest-rated entries in the series, the game offers a single-player campaign, multiplayer modes, and an open-world Zombies mode, which arrives just in time for Halloween.
Call of Duty: Warzone, a free-to-play battle royale game first launched in 2022, rounds out the trio of games coming to the cloud. Like other battle royale games such as Fortnite, players parachute into a shrinking map, battling opponents in locations like Urzikstan and Rebirth Island.