Don't Expect CoD: Modern Warfare 3 Or Diablo 4 On Game Pass This Year

Activision Blizzard has announced that it is expecting to bring its titles to Game Pass sometime next year, as its sale to Microsoft looks set to close soon.

As Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III's release date nears next month, Activision wanted to clarify the situation whether it'll come to 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," Activision Blizzard said in a statement. "And we anticipate that we would begin adding games into Game Pass sometime in the course of next year."

It's important to note that the statement doesn't specifically mention which games will come to the service. Call of Duty may not be added to the Game Pass for several years due to pre-existing agreements between Sony and Activision. Additionally, Xbox's Phil Spencer confirmed that there's still work behind the scenes to do in order to move titles onto Game Pass if the deal does end up closing, so Call of Duty won't be on it immediately.

However, Windows Central reports that Game Pass will receive many games to its service "the very minute" the deal closes.

Microsoft is reportedly trying to close the deal on October 13. The Competition and Markets Authority in the UK has given Microsoft preliminary approval to close the deal and the last day for the CMA to solicit opinions about it was October 6. The CMA will issue its final judgment on or before October 18.

While the acquisition was approved by the European Commission and the FTC in the US, the CMA was the only one who initially blocked it. However, after Microsoft proposed to sell Activision Blizzard's cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, the CMA reconsidered the deal.