Last October, Microsoft completed its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard and took ownership of a series of massive gaming properties, including Activision’s Call of Duty series. Microsoft is now theoretically free to add any Activision Blizzard games to its Game Pass subscription service on Xbox and PC. So it’s natural to wonder when Call of Duty games – specifically the 2024 installment – will hit Game Pass.
When is Call of Duty coming to Game Pass?
According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft plans to release the next Call of Duty game directly on Game Pass on day one. The game does not yet have a title or release date, but can be expected in its previous form in late October or early November 2024. Microsoft is expected to unveil the game and detail its release plans during the Xbox showcase on June 9. Microsoft has not yet made any official comment on when Call of Duty games might come to Game Pass.
Activision Blizzard, wanting to avoid speculation before the completion of the deal with Microsoft, said on October 9, 2023 That Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and his other big release from 2023, Diablo 4, would not be added to Game Pass that year, but said it did plan to add games to Game Pass in 2024. Diablo 4 was added to Game Pass in March, but Call of Duty remains notable for its absence thus far.
Speaking to the official Xbox podcast on October 17, 2023, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said: “The regulatory process took so long (…) that we couldn’t work with Activision Blizzard on that back catalog work. Now that the deal is done, we will start that work, but there is work to be done.” Spencer continued: “The fact that we don’t get to day one with a bunch of games coming into Game Pass is a bit of a bummer, but I’m really excited about the future.”
When will old Call of Duty games come to Game Pass?
This is unclear. Microsoft could have added older Call of Duty titles to Game Pass by now, and many expected that, but that didn’t happen. Microsoft began adding Bethesda games to Game Pass within weeks of that deal closing in March 2021. The original list was 20 games, focusing on back catalog titles. But this hasn’t happened for Activision Blizzard games.
As for the most recent game in the series: Modern Warfare 3Activision has a marketing agreement with Sony that will likely preclude that game’s arrival on Game Pass for a period of six months to a year. It also has a well-developed marketing and business plan for Call of Duty that works on an annual schedule, which Microsoft may not want to go beyond. For these reasons we did not expect this Modern Warfare 3 on Game Pass until the end of 2024 – at which point it would be overshadowed by the new game anyway.
Perhaps Microsoft wants to make the biggest impact possible by making the first Call of Duty title to hit Game Pass, the brand new 2024 installment. Microsoft may choose to put a range of Call of Duty games on the service at the same time, or it may just focus on the big new release.
When will other Activision Blizzard games like Diablo, World of Warcraft and Overwatch come to Game Pass?
One clue to Microsoft’s strategy is its handling of Diablo games on Game Pass. Again, many expected older games like Diablo 3 And Diablo 2 resurrected was supposed to appear on Game Pass fairly soon after the takeover, but this didn’t happen. Instead, the latest release, Diablo 4arrived with a splash in March 2024. It seems Microsoft is less focused on putting the entire Blizzard back catalog on Game Pass than Bethesda.
One of the biggest unknowns is World of Warcraft. The massively multiplayer game will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2024, but still enjoys a healthy paying audience Wow‘s own monthly subscription fee to play it. Will Microsoft be willing to cannibalize this revenue stream for the sake of what would be unique and substantial value-add to Game Pass? Maybe, but it’s a difficult calculation to make – so we don’t expect this to be added in the first wave of games, if at all.
As regards Overwatch 2, it’s a free-to-play game, so this is less relevant. But Game Pass subscribers have already received a number of benefits for the title, including instant unlocks for some of the game’s heroes.
Update (October 13, 2023): This article has been updated to reflect the completion of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard on October 13.
Update (October 18, 2023): This article has been updated with comments from Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming.
Update (May 21, 2024): This article has been updated to reflect the addition of Diablo 4 to Game Pass and reports that the next Call of Duty will be coming to the service.