Microsoft announced in May that Call of Duty: Back Ops 6, the next instalment in Activision’s popular first-person shooter franchise, will be on Xbox Game Pass when it launches in October. But the first Call of Duty title on the game subscription service might be arriving much sooner. The Xbox parent is reportedly planning to bring Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to Xbox Game Pass this month.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on Game Pass
An Insider Gaming report said Monday that last year’s Modern Warfare 3 was set to launch on Xbox Game Pass later this month, but did not reveal a specific date. “Insider Gaming couldn’t verify an exact release date by the time of publication, but several sources have suggested it will be in the latter half of this month,” the report said.
The information was also corroborated by Windows Central later, but neither Microsoft nor Activision have yet confirmed any plans to add Modern Warfare 3 to Game Pass.
No Call of Duty games are currently available on Microsoft’s game subscription service. Last year, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said that Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard games won’t appear on Xbox Game Pass until 2024 as regulatory hurdles had delayed the company’s acquisition of the Call of Duty maker. Spencer had said at the time that Microsoft could not complete the work required to add Activision titles to the Game Pass catalogue until the buyout was finalised.
Black Ops 6 to launch day one on Game Pass
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be the first game in the best-selling franchise to arrive day one on Game Pass when it launches October 25. Modern Warfare 3 (review), released November 10 last year, is the most recent game in the series. Older COD titles can also be expected to slowly make their way to Game Pass. Microsoft, however, has not provided a timeline for the same.
Earlier this week, Microsoft hiked the prices of Xbox Game Pass across territories and tiers ahead of the launch of Black Ops 6 on the service. The company also introduced a new ‘Standard’ tier for the subscription service that will not offer new first-party titles on launch day.