Call of Duty still isn't coming to Xbox Game Pass yet despite acquisition deal
Topics: Xbox, Call Of Duty, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard
Featured Image Credit: Activision Blizzard, Microsoft
Topics: Xbox, Call Of Duty, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard
If you’re an Xbox fan patiently waiting for Call Of Duty on Xbox Game Pass, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer.
Despite Microsoft winning its legal battle with the FTC to get the Activison Blizzard deal approved, it still hasn’t been finalised as the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is yet to sign-off on the merger.
Take a look at the first campaign mission of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III below.
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Xbox is currently in the process of securing a deal with Ubisoft to speed the CMA’s decision along. The deal would hand Xbox streaming rights over to the Assassin’s Creed developer in the UK, hopefully negating the CMA’s concerns over the deal monopolising competition in the UK market.
While the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, is confident the deal will go ahead as planned, he’s now warning fans that it might be a while before we finally see Activision Blizzard games added to the Xbox Game Pass lineup.
Xbox’s Phil Spencer tells IGN when the ABK deal closes, you won’t see Call of Duty immediately on Xbox Game Pass.
— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) August 23, 2023
“There is actually work to do to move games to Game Pass. People think the deal closes, and it’s all on Game Pass. That’s not true. It will take us time to get the… pic.twitter.com/NrCQZgMgte
Spencer said: “There is actually work to do to move games to Game Pass. People think the deal closes, and it’s all on Game Pass. That’s not true. It will take us time to get the games on Game Pass.” This means titles like Call Of Duty, Overwatch and others won’t be joining the lineup anytime soon, but the door is open for them to be added once everything is finished. Xbox has made it abundantly clear that while Call Of Duty is planned to join Game Pass, the series won’t become an Xbox exclusive, and has signed a deal with PlayStation to keep it on multiple platforms.
In other news, a new report claims Xbox was bluffing when it announced it was considering pulling Activision Blizzard games from the UK market to finalise the deal quicker. Insider sources said they never intended to go through it, and were just trying to push the FTC into reacting with a legal battle it wasn’t prepared for.
This tactic seemingly succeeded, as the FTC was unable to prove the Activision Blizzard deal was harmful to competitors in the gaming market.