New Activision Blizzard Games to Arrive on Xbox Game Pass in 2024 Following Microsoft Acquisition

Activision Blizzard has confirmed that its most recent and upcoming games like Diablo IV and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III won’t arrive on Xbox Game Pass until next year, pending the closure of the Microsoft acquisition.

Questions regarding culture integration, anticompetitive procedures, etc., have been focal talking points. However, one of the biggest questions surrounding Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion USD (around $92.9 billion CAD) deal is how Activision Blizzard’s game will be treated regarding Xbox Game Pass. Finally, the publisher has shed some light on X (formally Twitter).

“We do not have plans to put Modern Warfare III or Diablo IV into Game Pass this year,” the Activision Blizzard account confirms. “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.”

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

What’s particularly interesting is the timing and how vague some of the statement is. It’s been reported that the Microsoft acquisition could close as early as Friday, October 13th. This would land a week short of the October 18th deadline. If that’s indeed true, Activision Blizzard would be wise to get the messaging out ahead of time in order to set expectations accordingly. Players would undoubtedly begin holding out on preordering the upcoming Modern Warfare III if they thought there was a possibility of purchasing it through Xbox Game Pass.

Secondly, while Activision Blizzard does call out Modern Warfare III and Diablo IV, the statement specifically calls out “upcoming and recently launched games.” However, the statement does seem to have some wiggle room for legacy titles and games that may have come out a year or two ago. Of course, this is all speculation. Though, perhaps Microsoft and Activision Blizzard plan to roll out a selection of games, similar to the 20 Bethesda games that arrived on Xbox Game Pass shortly after Microsoft purchased ZeniMax Media.

It’s also worth noting that this year saw major fixes to the servers of older Call of Duty titles. The timing always seemed dubious but the closer to the acquisition’s closure, the more it makes sense. This year, it’s now actively feasible to pop into games like the original Modern Warfare 3 or Black Ops 2 for online multiplayer.