That would make Call of Duty the second-highest selling video game franchise of all time, second only to Mario.
It also saw increased year-on-year sales on PlayStation and Steam, and set a record for adding new Game Pass subscribers on the day of its release.
The debate has reportedly been going on internally for some time, with concerns about Game Pass undercutting Call of Duty's revenue.
Vicarious Visions was ultimately folded into Blizzard Entertainment in 2021, before being renamed to Blizzard Albany.
It's been claimed that Microsoft is preparing an announcement related to past Call of Duty titles at its summer showcase.
Call of Duty is still up in the air, but "back-end work" is going on for Activision Blizzard's other titles, according to Microsoft's Phil Spencer.
Initially leaked in 2022, the next Call of Duty is reportedly a sequel to Treyarch's Black Ops franchise and set during the Gulf War.
Sledgehammer Games is one of several studios across Microsoft's entire gaming division to be affected by widespread layoffs.
"In my first month it came out he threatened to have an employee killed," says former Demonware developer Christina Pollock.
Leaked documents reveal Sony is concerned about the "incredible strategic value" Activision's acquisition will provide to Microsoft.
Is it time for Call of Duty to move on?
Though there's plenty to like about Call of Duty games, at the same time, there's also no shortage of issues to find with how the series operates.
According to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, Call of Duty will have 100 percent content parity on all platforms.
"Right now, we have games planned out all the way through ’27 for the things that we’re working on," says Activision president Rob Kostich.
In recently submitted court documents, Microsoft stated that Nintendo has "a contractual right to obtain Activision content post-merger, including Call of Duty."
Other Activision franchises like Overwatch, Diablo, Crash Bandicoot, and more aren't guaranteed to release for PlayStation in the future.
"We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games," says Xbox boss Phil Spencer.
Earlier this year, Microsoft signed a "binding" 10-year agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty games to its platforms.
The Federal Trade Commission's trial against Microsoft and its acquisition of Activision Blizzard revealed some interesting things.
Activision only agreed to bring Call of Duty games to Xbox Series X/S after Microsoft agreed to an 80/20 revenue split.
