Call of Duty titles will come to Xbox Game Pass following Xbox & Activision deal closure

Xbox’s Phil Spencer has confirmed the company’s intent to bring Call of Duty, Overwatch and Diablo to Xbox Game Pass in the future.

Spencer was speaking in a Microsoft blog posted earlier today to detail Microsoft’s plans for Activision once the former’s $68.7 billion dollar takeover bid of the latter is complete.

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“Game Pass empowers developers to bring more games to more players, not fewer. We intend to make Activision Blizzard’s much-loved library of games – including Overwatch, Diablo and Call of Duty – available in Game Pass and to grow those gaming communities.”

However, Xbox insist that the move won’t see new Call of Duty releases taken away from PlayStation. “We’ve heard that this deal might take franchises like Call of Duty away from the places where people currently play them. That’s why, as we’ve said before, we are committed to making the same version of Call of Duty available on PlayStation on the same day the game launches elsewhere.”

Spencer’s post comes just hours after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority published its initial investigation into the Activision acquisition by Microsoft.

In the report, the body said that the deal could “result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom,” specifically mentioning the first person shooter series.

“This evidence consistently pointed towards ABK (Activision Blizzard King)’s content, especially Call of Duty, as being important and capable of making a material difference to the success of rivals’ gaming platforms.”

As a result, the body will investigate the deal further, taking it into a phase 2. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has also responded to the report, saying “we still believe the deal is most likely to close in Microsoft’s fiscal year ending June of next year.”

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Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass FAQ

Is Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass?

At the time of writing, no Call of Duty games are currently available on Xbox Game Pass. Xbox head Phil Spencer has confirmed that the company does intend to put the series on there. It depends, however, on the deal for Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard King being successfully completed and approved.

Will Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 be on Xbox Game Pass?

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 will not be on Xbox Game Pass at launch. The deal between Activision and Xbox is not expected to complete until around June of 2023. Therefore, we don’t expect any Call of Duty games to make it to the service before then.

Is Call of Duty free on Xbox?

While most of the Call of Duty games are full priced titles, there is one exception. Call of Duty Warzone is a battle-royale themed take on the shooter that’s entirely free-to-play.