Phil Spencer doubles down on bringing CoD to Game Pass on “day one”
Activision / XboxCoD 2024 could make history as the first annual release to not break sales records, should it be available on Game Pass.
After months of conflicting comments and dubious speculation, Xbox head Phil Spencer has cleared the air once and for all, confirming Call of Duty will indeed arrive on Game Pass in the near future, with the intention being to have new releases available on “day one.”
From the moment Microsoft announced its industry-shaking plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, speculation was rampant as to what it might mean for Game Pass.
With many titles under the Zenimax umbrella added to the subscription service shortly after that earlier acquisition, many questioned if Activision Blizzard’s IP would follow suit. To date, however, it’s been a considerably slower and more confusing process.
While Diablo 4 was just announced to be arriving on Game Pass on March 28, plans for other popular ActiBlizz IP have remained cloudy at best. Until now that is, as Phil Spencer just confirmed plans to bring CoD to Game Pass, shutting down any and all speculation of the opposite in the process.
“The flagship Activision Blizzard franchise is still coming,” Spencer said in speaking with industry journalist Stephen Totilo. Although rumors have swirled around the plans for CoD specifically, the Xbox head clarified the team’s intentions once and for all.
“Our intent is the full portfolio of games from ZeniMax, Activision Blizzard, and Xbox Game Studios, will be on Game Pass, day one.”
Naturally, CoD is the biggest blockbuster under the ActiBlizz banners by a significant margin. Should the publishing giant’s full portfolio come across to Game Pass, rest assured CoD is included in that conversation.
As for exactly when this might come to fruition, Spencer couldn’t provide an estimate. Though he outlined how work is currently underway on the “back end to make the come to PC and console simultaneously.”
So for now, it still remains unclear if this back end work will be finished in time to support CoD 2024 on Game Pass at launch, as Xbox clearly hopes.
But rest assured it’s certainly their plan moving forward to allow Game Pass subscribers access to CoD day and date with its annualized launch.
