Game Pass subscribers will need to exercise patience as Activision Blizzard has revealed that games like Diablo IV and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III won’t be available on the service this year. The reason is the pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, which is expected to be finalized this month. According to the gaming giant, the games will be integrated into Game Pass sometime in the next year.
The acquisition was initially announced by Microsoft in early 2022, with hopes of closing the deal by June 2023. However, regulatory concerns led to delays. The European Commission approved the acquisition in May, but with the condition that Microsoft makes its games available on other cloud gaming services. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority blocked the deal until certain rights were sold to Ubisoft Entertainment. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission’s injunction request was denied, but the FTC announced plans to restart its in-house trial against the acquisition in September. Once the deal is officially closed, the titles from Activision Blizzard will likely make their way to Game Pass.
It’s awesome to see anticipation building for Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III. As we continue to work toward regulatory approval of the Microsoft deal, we’ve been getting some questions whether our upcoming and recently launched games will be available via Game Pass.
While we…
— Activision Blizzard (@ATVI_AB) October 9, 2023
