What You Missed This Week in Video Games

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

NEW RELEASES: This week’s most notable new release is Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) “MultiVersus,” a free-to-play platform fighting game that features characters from a number of Warner Bros.-owned franchises, including Bugs Bunny and Batman. The game, which previously had early access and open beta versions available from July 2022 to June 2023, officially launchces May 28 for PC, PlayStation 4 (SONY), PS5, Xbox One (MSFT), and Xbox Series X/S. Also out this week is Electronic Arts’ (EA) racing sim “F1 24,” which launches May 31 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S,

NEW ‘CALL OF DUTY’ CONFIRMED: Last week, Microsoft’s Activision unit confirmed that the next title in its best-selling “Call of Duty” franchise will be “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.” The game will be the first new title in the long-running series since Microsoft closed on its acquisition of Activision Blizzard earlier in 2024.

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that “Black Ops 6” will be available on its launch day on the company’s Game Pass subscription service. The Xbox maker added that it will have a special Xbox Game Showcase followed by a “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” Direct on June 9, where it will share more details on the new “Call of Duty” game. The Fly notes that, as of the time of writing, “Diablo IV” has been the only notable Activision Blizzard game released on Game Pass since the deal closed.

The news follows reporting from The Verge earlier this month, which said that Microsoft had internal deliberations over whether to put new “Call of Duty” titles on Game Pass following a number of studio closures and various other strategy changes. The debate had been going on within the Xbox unit for quite some time, with concerns that “Call of Duty” inclusion on Game Pass will restrict some of the revenue that the hit title tends to generate each year for Activision Blizzard, The Verge’s Tom Warren said, noting Microsoft has also considered hiking Game Pass Ultimate prices again.

Meanwhile, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said on X, formerly Twitter, that his “best guess” for the “Call of Duty” Game Pass move is that the release could result in a “moderate” increase in subscriptions in Q4, but “doesn’t significantly change purchase patterns on other platforms, and sells a few incremental Xbox Series consoles, but not enough to significantly change trends.” The analyst added that the subscription bump could also be “at least partially offset” if the release of “Black Ops 6” comes with a price hike for Game Pass.

NEW NINTENDO STORE: Nintendo of America (NTDOY) announced plans to open an official store in San Francisco’s Union Square, providing a way for a wide range of visitors from near and far to experience the world of Nintendo, its products, and characters. The store, called Nintendo SAN FRANCISCO, will open in 2025 as the second official location in the U.S., joining the store in New York City.