Call of Duty is coming to Xbox Game Pass – just not as soon as you'd like

17 July 2023 , 11:00

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Call of Duty will be making its way to Xbox Game Pass in a few years time in theory (Image: Activision Blizzard)

In the wake of Microsoft being given the go-ahead to purchase Activision Blizzard in the US, players want to know when Call of Duty will come to Xbox Game Pass.

Getting Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass seems like a no-brainer now following the US Federal Court’s decision to deny the FTC’s preliminary injunction against Microsoft’s $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition. When the deal completes the military FPS franchise will technically become a first-party Xbox game, and the pattern with other such titles so far – like Halo, Gears of War and Forza Mo3torsport, to name a few – has been to launch them directly into Xbox’s premiere game subscription service on day one.

Rather expectantly, then, players who own an Xbox Series X |S have been left curious as to when they’ll start reaping the benefits of Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass. The answer to this mystery was actually revealed some months ago, in the same CMA (Competitions and Markets Authority) report where the UK regulator elected to block the Microsoft Activision deal on UK shores.

Discussing when the Activision Blizzard benefits on Xbox Game Pass might take effect, the CMA went on record as predicting “CoD arriving on Game Pass in 2025”. It’s worth noting that this applies solely to new Call of Duty entries going forward, and doesn’t cover previous Call of Duty entries that have already released like, say, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Call of Duty: World at War and the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare trilogy.

Shall not pass

Xbox head Phil Spencer has just announced that “Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard,” confirming that this was for a period of 10 years. Call of Duty becoming first-party means Xbox Game Pass would likely have the edge over PS Plus, therefore, seeing as from 2025 onwards new entries are all but guaranteed to arrive.

Inside quietest room in the world where no one can stay inside for over an hour

Even prior to being purchased by Microsoft, Activision Blizzard is being very cagey with regards to how 2023’s Call of Duty release will be handled. After initial rumours that the franchise would be skipping the year in favour of premium DLC for 2022’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Insider Gaming’s Ton Henderson said that these internal plans were scrapped in favour of a full release after all, though it’s still unclear which studio is the lead developer.

Either way the CMA’s final report indicates that Call of Duty 2023 wouldn’t be up for grabs on Xbox Game Pass this year anyway, with Xbox players instead being made to wait until 2025. That’s not to say Xbox couldn’t roll out other perks for, say, Call of Duty: Warzone 2 ahead of then, however, just nothing tied to the full release.

Aaron Potter