According to a new rumor, Microsoft Gaming may be looking to reconsider its inclusion of the Call of Duty franchise in the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
Is Call of Duty Leaving Xbox Game Pass?
The Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard was one of the biggest stories in the gaming industry throughout 2022 and 2023. A few years after the major purchase has been complete, many of the side effects and ramifications of that $68+ billion exchange are starting to be seen.
One of the biggest additions to the Microsoft stable in the purchase was the Call of Duty franchise. Call of Duty traditionally sells tons of copies every year and is a household brand name with enough staying power to justify highly profitable installments every year. The number of sales CoD usually drives were part of the reason it was such a surprise when Microsoft announced it would be included in Xbox Game Pass going forward.
Microsoft has used the day one access to new Call of Duty games as part of the reason to drive up the price of the Ultimate membership over the past couple of years, but it seems like the new leadership at Xbox may not agree with some of those strategies. It seems possible that this shift in strategy could have something to do with the lower than average sales for 2025’s Call of Duty and with a lack of exponential growth in Game Pass subscriber numbers.
There have already been reports that Asha Sharma is looking to decrease the price of Xbox Game Pass and create more affordable tiers for the subscription service and now there is a new rumor that Xbox is considering removing Call of Duty from Day One on Xbox Game Pass this year.
This information, shared on the ResetEra forums, comes from Jez Corden (content creator and Executive Editor at Windows Central), who is a frequent source for insider gaming information. Jez Corden does not provide any sources and this rumor is currently unconfirmed by Microsoft, so be sure to take it with a grain of salt until we learn more details.
That said, it is very interesting to imagine how Xbox would go about putting this cat back in the bag. Deciding not to add the next Call of Duty as a Day One perk of Game Pass Ultimate would likely cause at least some percentage of subscribers to feel frustrated or like Xbox was going back on its word. No details about how Xbox would communicate or position the change were shared by the source, so it’s total speculation at this point.
There is still quite a bit of time before the fall release of the next Call of Duty arrives, so it’s likely we’ll learn a lot more about this decision, if it’s true, sometime over the summer or in the early fall. Be sure to check back in the coming weeks for more updates and news.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is available now across platforms and is currently playable through Xbox Game Pass.
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