Call of Duty Xbox Game Pass release: Everything we know so far

Call of Duty's future is sealed as Microsoft has been allowed to close its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the publisher of the major FPS franchise. The US judge has given the green light for the deal to go through, and now the only country against this arrangement is the UK which Microsoft is currently working on to complete the transaction.

Phil Spencer, CEO of Xbox Game Studios, has already revealed his plans for when Microsoft acquires Activision officially and also information related to Xbox Game Pass and Call of Duty. The details for the same are listed in this article.

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When will Call of Duty games come to Xbox Game Pass?

Xbox Game Pass is a subscription service that allows members to play games without buying them until their subscription expires. There are different tiers that players can subscribe to, which allows them access to various services. For example, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the highest tier, gives members free in-game perks, exclusive member discounts, and everything other tiers offer.

Phil Spencer mentioned that when the deal goes through, Call of Duty games will make an appearance in the Xbox Game Pass. The next game in the franchise is heavily rumored to be Modern Warfare 3, but it is unlikely the title speculated to release in November of this year will be added to the service.

Call of Duty games will be added to Xbox Game Pass starting in 2025. The only hindrance before this happens is for the acquisition to be completed, which is expected to be done in the coming months as the US has already green-lit the transaction. As per the official Microsoft document:

"We would expect that the benefits would start to accrue within a reasonable period (although there would, in practice, likely be some delay between the completion of the Merger and CoD arriving on Game Pass in 2025). "

It is unknown which game will be released by the publishers in 2025, but it is speculated that in 2024, the next Black Ops title developed by Treyarch will be released, which will not be part of the Xbox Game Pass.

The aforementioned expectations consider that the $68.7 billion deal goes through. However, if it does not, Microsoft will be liable to pay $3 billion in break-up fees to Activision-Blizzard.