Xbox Game Pass will not be getting any Activision games anytime soon. Xbox is one of the biggest powerhouses in the industry, especially since it is backed by one of the biggest companies in the world in Microsoft. The tech company’s deep pockets allow Xbox to take more risks and invest harder into expanding itself with things like Xbox Game Pass and the acquisition of companies like Activision. Microsoft has done a lot of work acquiring major studios over the last few years which they have leveraged to boost Game Pass and making the service something that’s pretty hard to resist if you’re an Xbox owner or play on PC.
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With the news that Microsoft had finalized its deal to acquire Activision, many were hoping to see old Call of Duty games, Crash Bandicoot, Tony Hawk, and other Activision games on Xbox Game Pass this month. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. Activision stated as much last week ahead of the deal’s closure, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer has doubled down and also elaborated on why it will take some time. In a new episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, Spencer stated that the process of bringing Activision games to Xbox Game Pass has only just begun. Part of that is because of regulatory matters and uncertainty in the deal going through so Xbox didn’t have the ability to work with Activision to bring games to Xbox Game Pass up until just a week or so ago. He went on to say that the games would likely arrive in 2024 and he’d tell people upfront if they were coming sooner
Fans had assumed that we may get a big celebratory drop after the deal closed similar to Bethesda. However, the scale of Bethesda’s acquistion and the logistics was significantly smaller, which meant it was easier to do that. Bringing games to Xbox Game Pass is more of a process than just flicking a switch, especially when you consider the fact Activision has a lot of old licensed games. While we likely shouldn’t expect every single Activision game to come to Xbox Game Pass as a result of that, Microsoft may be working to try and bring back some of those old Marvel, Tony Hawk, or James Bond games (amongst other things).
Will Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Come to Xbox Game Pass?
Simply put, no. Activision has already directly addressed this by saying Modern Warfare 3ย will not be on Xbox Game Pass. This is likely due to existing partnerships with Sony along with the fact that Activision has already spent so much time and money marketing this game as a $70 release, so to change it at the last second would probably be damaging in some capacity. As for next year’s game, it’s anyone’s guess at this point.
