It’s been several months since Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard was finalized, and even though the latter’s catalog of titles has started making its way over to Game Pass with Diablo 4 kicking things off in March, there hasn’t been any real clarity on whether Call of Duty in particular is going to follow suit. Now, however, it’s being reported that concrete details on that front will be officially shared soon.
Wall Street Journal has claimed in a recently published report that this year’s Call of Duty game will be available via Game Pass at launch. As per the report, though the company is of course expecting a hit to the title’s sales, it is also hoping to see a bump in subscriber numbers for the service, driven by Call of Duty.
The report goes on to claim that Microsoft will officially confirm the game’s Game Pass release at its Xbox Games Showcase in June. Previously, it was alleged in reports that the company was also potentially planning on putting back catalog Call of Duty titles on Game Pass as well. Read more on that through here.
Earlier this month, Xbox president Sarah Bond reiterated that all first-party Microsoft games will see day one Game Pass releases, including Activision titles, though she didn’t explicitly mention Call of Duty. Interestingly, recent leaks have also claimed that Microsoft is planning on introducing new tier and a price hike for Game Pass.
As per previous leaks, this year’s Call of Duty title will be titled Call of Duty: Black Ops Gulf War. Its single player campaign, developed by Raven Software, will allegedly be fully open world. The game will launch in October, it’s been claimed.