It appears telling that Microsoft and Activision have not been touting gross sales numbers for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, a sequel that hasn’t been as well-received by gamers as Black Ops 6 was a yr earlier. Regardless, Microsoft has introduced that the Call of Duty franchise led the cost on Xbox Game Pass in 2025 in two key classes.
On social media, the official account for Xbox Game Pass famous that Call of Duty ranked first for whole gamers and hours in 2025. Particular figures past that weren’t included within the announcement.
Along with #1 in November, @CallofDuty closed out 2025 because the #1 franchise on Xbox Game Pass for whole gamers and hours all yr 🫡
Right here’s to @CallofDuty & its worldwide group. Season 1 of #BlackOps7 + Call of Duty: Warzone is simply getting warmed up.— Xbox Game Pass (@XboxGamePass) December 10, 2025
The timing is fascinating as a result of Activision launched a press release of its personal earlier this week which acknowledged that Black Ops 7 fell wanting the mark the writer set for itself. Moreover, Activision pledged to chorus from any future CoD year-to-year releases which might be direct sequels, as Black Ops 6 and seven had been.
“[We know] that for a few of you, the franchise has not met your expectations totally,” reads the assertion. “To be very clear, we all know what you anticipate and relaxation assured we’ll ship, and overdeliver, on these expectations as we transfer ahead … We are going to now not do back-to-back releases of Trendy Warfare or Black Ops video games. The explanations are many, however the principle one is to make sure we offer a completely distinctive expertise every yr. We are going to drive innovation that’s significant, not incremental. Whereas we aren’t sharing these plans as we speak, we sit up for doing so when the time is correct.”
Regardless of the blended message that comes from the shut arrival of those statements, it is solely believable that Call of Duty was No. 1 on Game Pass regardless of under-performing in different metrics. Not less than one online game analyst chastised Microsoft for “dropping the ball” and blamed Black Ops 7’s disappointing efficiency on burnout, poor artistic selections, and its use of AI slop.
The true query now could be whether or not EA’s Battlefield 6 will outperform Black Ops 7 in gross sales. As of early November, Battlefield 6 bought 10 million copies throughout all platforms. It stays to be seen if that might be sufficient to unseat Call of Duty because the top-selling franchise of the yr. Call of Duty hasn’t been crushed in that class by one other shooter since 2006.