The Microsoft acquisition of Activision appears to be winding down, and one of the hot subjects that will likely be further explored is whether or not Call of Duty will be added to Xbox Game Pass, particularly for most fans of the franchise.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision was given permission to proceed in July 2023. This gives them a significant competitive edge by adding Call of Duty games to Game Pass, and Xbox has already assured fans that the Call of Duty series will remain available on PlayStation and various other platforms. Unfortunately, information on what’s ahead for Call of Duty has been limited, and we’re still waiting for Microsoft to make official announcements with regard to Call of Duty games coming to Xbox Game Pass.
When is Call of Duty coming to Game Pass?
Call of Duty will likely be available on Xbox Game Pass sometime in 2025. This is according to the from the UK CMA’s final trial report. Following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, Call of Duty will eventually make its way to Game Pass, and official dates are yet to be confirmed. On top of that, Sony has a contract with Call of Duty that runs through the end of 2024; thus, the next entry in the series won’t be available on Xbox Game Pass until the following year.
Xbox executive Phil Spencer also confirmed that Microsoft and PlayStation have inked a legally binding deal to maintain Call of Duty on PlayStation following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision. Now that it’s a first-party title, Call of Duty games are a sure bet for inclusion in Xbox Game Pass, making it a better deal than PlayStation Plus for players.
Will all Call of Duty Games be on Game Pass?
There have been no official announcements yet as to whether all Call of Duty titles will be added to Xbox Game Pass. Even once Microsoft’s acquisition is confirmed and some titles could potentially come to the Game Pass subscription on day one, it may still take some time before we see all COD games, classic or new, permanently included in the library.
Given Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, all of the older Call of Duty titles (many of which are backward compatible) should be made available on Xbox Game Pass. So while subscribers to Xbox Game Pass probably won’t be able to play the newest Call of Duty games as a day one 2025 entry, they should get access to the older COD games and see how the series has changed over the years.