It’s possible to be cognizant that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision represents a worrying ongoing trend of consolidation across the game industry while still be at least happy that it means getting more games on Xbox Game Pass. Unfortunately, while the deal is provisionally intended to go through on this Friday, October 13th, it appears that you still won’t be getting that outcome this year. A tweet indicates that there are no plans to put Diablo IV or the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III on the service this year, but more games are indeed coming next year.
“It’s awesome to see anticipation building for Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III. As we continue to work toward regulatory approval of the Microsoft deal, we’ve been getting some questions whether our upcoming and recently launched games will be available via Game Pass. 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.”
Given that the year only has a couple remaining months, this is not altogether surprising especially considering how many contentious hearings have slowed things down. It’d be a bit odd if the plans were on the table for this year. Still, if you were hoping to be able to play the latest Call of Duty game on launch without having to actually buy it, sorry, that’s not happening this year. Maybe next.
It’s awesome to see anticipation building for Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III. As we continue to work toward regulatory approval of the Microsoft deal, we’ve been getting some questions whether our upcoming and recently launched games will be available via Game Pass.
While we…
— Activision Blizzard (@ATVI_AB) October 9, 2023
