Microsoft’s Big Games Gamble

It’s Friday so it seems fitting to take a break from cloud computing, artificial intelligence, balance sheets and the other themes we usually cover here to talk briefly about a more recreational topic: video games. Earlier this week, Take-Two Interactive Software dropped some big news when it said Grand Theft Auto VI will come out in the fall of next year. The last new version of the megahit franchise came out 11 years ago, so there’s likely to be a huge amount of pent-up demand for the latest installment. The first trailer for GTA VI has racked up 190 million views on YouTube in the five months since it came out. Get ready for a tsunami of hype next year for this game. 

And today there was important game news of a different kind in this story from The Wall Street Journal, which said Microsoft will add the next version of Call of Duty—the blockbuster combat game that it now owns through its acquisition of Activision Blizzard—to its subscription game service. This isn’t a surprise if you follow the business of games, but it’s a big deal. Microsoft is trying to build its service, Game Pass, into something like a Netflix for Xbox and PC video games. Adding Call of Duty to it means that gamers who normally pay around $70 to buy it will have the option of being able to rent it through Game Pass, which currently costs between roughly $10 and $17 a month.