Microsoft made some headlines when it first announced a bid to acquire Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion. That’s a huge hit in the pocketbook, but it was something Microsoft was seeking, and after several regulator battles, the deal was finalized. The teams over at Activision Blizzard are now under the ownership of Microsoft, but what does the future of these franchises look like? Well, if you were hopeful of seeing games like Call of Duty on the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, you might be out of luck.
Call of Duty was the leading franchise that was picked up in the headlines when Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard. There were battles with regulators over the fear that Microsoft would make Call of Duty a new exclusive under the Microsoft Xbox banner. But that wasn’t the case as Microsoft continued to sign contract agreements to ensure Call of Duty wasn’t going to leave competitor platforms like the Sony PlayStation 5. Still, that had fans expecting Call of Duty games would start popping up on Xbox Game Pass alongside new releases at launch. Unfortunately, an industry insider is making a claim that this is no longer the plan.
Thanks to Gamerant, we’re finding out that industry insider Timdog has noted in a recent podcast episode of Gamers Council that Microsoft is not bringing Call of Duty to the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. This comes with a slew of other reports suggesting that Microsoft might bring Starfield over to the PlayStation 5, and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle title from MachineGames could be a multiplatform release.
There are plenty of headlines circulating online for Microsoft and its future in the gaming division. If you recall, we started this year with the announcement of mass layoffs within Xbox. Then, there were reports some of the divisions that were cut had to deal with teams that dealt with getting physical games into the retail market. So, quite a few fans are wondering just what the future outlook is for Xbox. For some fans, this rumor will hopefully prove not to be true as they await Call of Duty on the Game Pass service. Of course, we’re also waiting to see what the folks over at Activision Blizzard have cooked up since these teams were not present during the Xbox Developer Direct stream.
