Activision Blizzard Games Coming to Game Pass in 2024, Phil Spencer Declares
The head of Microsoft's Xbox division, Phil Spencer, has cooled hopes that Activision Blizzard games will soon be added to the Game Pass offering.
A few days ago, after two years of struggle, the Microsoft corporation finally finalized the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. One of the questions most often asked by gamers concerns the question of adding this publisher's games to the Game Pass subscription. It turns out that we'll still have to wait quite a while for that.
- This information comes from the latest episode of the official Xbox podcast. In it, Phil Spencer confirmed that Activision Blizzard games will not appear in Game Pass library until next year.
- Spencer explains that the merger approval process was so protracted that it prevented the companies from starting to work together sooner, and it is only now that the acquisition has been finalized that Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have begun preparations to put the publisher's games on Game Pass.
This news, while disappointing, is not surprising. Just days before theacquisition was completed Activision Blizzard reported that there was no chance of adding Diablo IV and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III to Game Pass this year. However, many gamers had hoped that some other older releases from the publisher would be added to the subscription service in the next few months, such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II or Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (speculation has been heated up by news of price increases for Activision games in Brazil, Argentina and Turkey). Unfortunately, Phil Spencer's words confirm that there is no chance of this happening.
At the same time, we should not expect that one day last year dozens of Activision Blizzard games will suddenly be added to Game Pass. Instead, the addition of the publisher's works to the service's offerings is expected to happen gradually.
All of this is disappointing, but beneficial for Activision. Scheduled for a November 10 debut, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III will undoubtedly be one of the most important launches of the year, and sales of the game would have been lower had it been made available in Game Pass at the same time.
