There are only a few days left for the $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger, one of the biggest deals in gaming history. According to rumors, Microsoft will complete the acquisition this Friday (October 13) if it receives the approval it expects from the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
While the wait for the deal to close continues, an important statement was made by Activision Blizzard last night. The gaming giant answered one of the most frequently asked questions about Xbox Game Pass.
Activision Blizzard games will come to Game Pass in 2024 if the deal is completed
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
According to the statement made on X (Twitter), Activision will start adding its games to the Game Pass library next year. So, even if the deal is completed this week, we will not be able to see new Activision games on Game Pass in 2023.
It should be emphasized that Activision is talking about “newly released or upcoming games” in its statement. So, we are talking about games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Diablo IV here. There is no information about older Activision games. We may see these games in the subscription system with a low probability in 2023.
Activision’s statement is as follows: “While we have no plans to add Modern Warfare III or Diablo IV to Game Pass this year, once the deal is completed, we hope to begin working with Xbox to bring our games to more players around the world. We estimate that we will start adding games to Game Pass next year.”
Let’s also add that there is an agreement between Activision and Sony about Call of Duty. CMA stated that due to this agreement, new Call of Duty games will not be added to Game Pass until 2025. However, Sony and Microsoft’s 10-year Call of Duty agreement may have caused the other agreement to end. Activision’s statement already signals that CoD games will come to Game Pass next year. We’ll see what happens after the purchase is completed.
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