Activision gives decisive answer on MW3 and Game Pass amidst final stages of Microsoft deal

With the conclusion of the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard looming, as almost all regulatory hurdles have been surpassed, the Call of Duty developer has given the ultimate answer to the question many have been asking.

Activision Blizzard confirmed today via an official announcement that the upcoming Modern Warfare 3 release will not be coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2023. The news comes after reports from over the weekend suggest that both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard want to close the deal this week or very early next week, as the extended deadline to close the deal on Oct. 18 is coming up.

While Game Pass subscribers might be disappointed now about the lack of a major, new Call of Duty release on their platform, they may get them sooner rather than later.

“While we do not have plans to put Modern Warfare 3 or Diablo 4 into Game Pass this year,” the Activision Blizzard statement wrote, “once the deal closes, we expect to start working with Xbox to bring our titles to more players around the world. And we anticipate that we would begin adding games into Game Pass sometime in the course of next year.

It’s unclear precisely what games would potentially come to the subscription service next year. Activision Blizzard could be referring to new releases like the ones they mentioned above, or older games in the Activision catalog, or even both. New Call of Duty titles will not be Game Pass-exclusive, though, with Microsoft and PlayStation reaching a deal to keep the series on the Sony console following the Activision acquisition.

However, it’s more likely that Activision’s promise of “‘next year” won’t include brand-new Call of Duty releases. The current Sony/CoD deal expires in 2024, meaning a new game in the series that could launch as a “day one” Game Pass release realistically won’t happen until 2025 at the earliest.