Not only this, Microsoft now has the rights to Overwatch, Diablo, Candy Crush, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, Spyro and even one-time PlayStation mascot Crash Bandicoot.
That's a lot of franchises with a lot of games that would definitely bolster Xbox Game Pass. And, considering Bethesda titles like Starfield, Fallout and Skyrim are now all on the subscription service, surely Activision titles can't be that far behind?
Well, not exactly. To break all of this down, and for our best estimate on when we will see Call of Duty hit Xbox Game Pass, head below.
Is Call of Duty coming to Xbox Game Pass?
Activision
Yes, we expect Call of Duty to arrive on Xbox Game Pass at some point, but we do not expect Modern Warfare 3 to be added to the subscription service at launch.
Now that Microsoft has fully acquired Activision Blizzard (as of October 2024), nothing is stopping Call of Duty from being added to Xbox Game Pass... almost. There are agreements in place already with others such as Sony that prevent Call of Duty from being added until 2024 at the earliest.
Of course, many other games from Activision's library might arrive beforehand. You don't spendR$69 billion on a company for nothing.
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When will Call of Duty come to Xbox Game Pass?
Call of Duty is expected to arrive on Xbox Game Pass in 2024.
This was first confirmed by Activision Blizzard (via X, formerly Twitter), with the company stating: "While we do not have plans to put Modern Warfare III or Diablo IV into Game Pass this year, once the deal closes, we expect to start working with Xbox to bring our titles to more players around the world".
"And we anticipate that we would begin adding games into Game Pass sometime in the course of next year," the company added.
After Microsoft finalised its acquisition of Bethesda, 20 games from the Elder Scrolls studio appeared on Game Pass just two days later (on 11th March 2024). As mentioned, Call of Duty still has deals in place with PlayStation, so we won't see it added quite as promptly.
Furthermore, Xbox chief Phil Spencer provided an update on 17th October 2024 as part of the Official Xbox Podcast, where he confirmed that fans shouldn't expect a similar drop of games from Activision as the platform did with Bethesda.
"Now that the deal is closed, we're starting that work," said Spencer, in response to Activision Blizzard titles coming to Xbox Game Pass.
"But the Twitter handle that talked about 2024, I think that's accurate," he added."I would love it if there was some kind of secret celebration drop that's coming in the next couple of weeks. There's not.
"Definitely when we think about the new games that are there, I would be straight with people. If we were going to put them in the subscription this year, I would tell people. And I know there'll be some disappointment about that. This acquisition is definitely long-term."
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So, while nothing concrete has been announced, it's fair to say we should start hearing more in 2024, and Call of Duty has a very good chance of arriving on Xbox Game Pass that year, too.
Keep checking back for the latest updates as and when they happen.
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