Activision Blizzard Games Will Join Xbox Game Pass

The historic announcement that Microsoft will be purchasing Activision Blizzard has sent shockwaves throughout the gaming industry. The potential effects it could have on gaming are enormous. One aspect of gaming that will be affected is exclusivity. Since Microsoft will own the Activision Blizzard catalog, this may prevent these games from showing up on other platforms or streaming services. This is likely to happen as Microsoft will be putting many Activision Blizzard games on Game Pass.

Game Pass Gains Some Activision Blizzard Games

In their press release announcing their intent to purchase Activision Blizzard, Microsoft revealed that they would be bringing as many games as possible from the Activision Blizzard catalog to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. It was also mentioned that this would include new and old games. 

When the purchase is finalized, Microsoft will own franchises such as Warcraft, Call of Duty, Overwatch, Diablo, and Starcraft. Call of Duty has received yearly releases from Activision Blizzard but it could possibly end as a free-to-play shooter just like Halo Infinite is. Xbox backwards compatibility already allows Xbox users to play every Xbox 360 Call of Duty game so it is likely that these games will join Game Pass like many other Xbox 360 exclusives.

A similar situation happened last year with Microsoft’s purchase of Bethesda where major games in the company’s catalog were made available on Game Pass. There is no date on when Microsoft plans on bringing these games to Game Pass.