Call of Duty is really coming to Xbox Game Pass, according to new report
An official announcement will reportedly come in the Xbox Games Showcase during Summer Game Fest
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After ages worth of ‘will they or won’t they’ speculation, a new report suggests thatMicrosoftplans to bring Call of Duty to Xbox Game Pass, with a confirmation coming as part of theSummer Game Fest schedule for 2024.
“Microsoft plans a major shake-up of its videogame [sic] sales strategy by releasing the coming installment of Call of Duty to its subscription service instead of the longtime, lucrative approach of only selling it a la carte,” according to a new (paywalled) report from theWall Street Journal. Citing sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans, the report goes on to say that the company plans to make the announcement official as part of the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9. WSJ says Microsoft declined to comment on the report.
If today’s report is true, this represents a significant Game Pass push from Microsoft, which is seemingly willing to sacrifice upfront Call of Duty sales on Xbox and PC if it means more subscribers. Microsoft haspledged to keep Call of Duty available on PlayStation for a decadefollowing the closure of theXbox Activision deal, and Xbox Game Pass is not available on theSonyplatform, where the franchise has seen most of its sales in recent years. Last week, Xbox president Sarah Bond appeared totease Xbox Game Pass appearances from the Activision portfolio, which would include Call of Duty.
Alongside the Xbox Games Showcase in June, Microsoft is also hosting a"Redacted Direct" that’s been not-so-subtly teased as a reveal of this year’s Call of Duty. Rumors have long held that this will beBlack Ops 6, and it looks like we’ll know the truth of it soon enough.
Call of Duty is arguably the biggest traditional gaming franchise that doesn’t involve stealing cars, and Microsoft will certainly be betting big on it this year. But with the closure ofseveral beloved studios earlier this month, fans and the industry at large will certainly be looking at the company with even greater scrutiny.
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Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He’s been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.
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