Diablo 4 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 won’t come to Xbox Game Pass in 2023

Activision Blizzard expects Game Pass integration in 2024

With the UK’s Competition and Market Authority (CMA) being expected to give its final approval of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard this week, Microsoft is eyeing to finally close the deal by Friday. It seems like Activision Blizzard is on the same page, as the company is already trying to communicate post-acquisition plans regarding Xbox Game Pass.

In a statement on social media, Activision Blizzard wrote: “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 do not have plans to put Modern Warfare III or Diablo IV into Game Pass this year, once the deal closes, we expect to start working with Xbox to bring our titles to more players around the world.”

Microsoft's acqusition of Activision Blizzard may come to fruition this week / Microsoft

Fans should expect to see Activision Blizzard’s titles in Game Pass in 2024, though: “And we anticipate that we would begin adding games into Game Pass sometime in the course of next year.”

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

It didn’t take long for Bethesda’s titles to show up in Microsoft’s popular subscription service after the Xbox maker took over ZeniMax, but the situation is likely a little different in this case: Call of Duty’s exclusive marketing deal with Sony hasn’t quite run its course yet, making an immediate integration into Game Pass an unlikely scenario. With Modern Warfare 3 being the last game covered by that particular contract, things may change in this regard going forward.

Making as many Call of Duty games as possible available on Game Pass would be a huge boon for the service, as the recent surge in popularity of older titles from the series has shown. Diablo 4, which seems to be struggling after its release, could in turn benefit from being available inside the catalog to boost its player numbers.

One thing seems to be clear: Microsoft and Activision Blizzard already have some plans in the drawer.

For now, all of these discussions hinge on the CMA’s decision – and on whether the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants to go all-in on reverting the deal in the case of closure this week.

Every mainline Call of Duty game ranked from worst to best