Modern Warfare 4 Promotions Indicate Call of Duty Won’t Be Available on Xbox Game Pass This Year

In 2024, Xbox introduced Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to its Game Pass subscription, allowing subscribers to dive into the latest installment of the franchise. However, this addition didn’t happen until July, meaning the game had already been available for about nine months. A few months later, Black Ops 6 launched directly on Game Pass, followed by Black Ops 7 the next year. Microsoft had committed to ensuring that all new Call of Duty titles would be available on Game Pass from day one.

Fast forward to April of this year, and Xbox reversed its stance: future Call of Duty releases will not be available on Game Pass at launch. Instead, they will be added to the service nearly a year later. This announcement coincided with a price drop for Game Pass, with the Ultimate tier now priced at $22.99, down from $29.99.

Not everyone keeps up with gaming news, particularly casual players who typically stick to Call of Duty. Many of these gamers might be in for a rude awakening when Modern Warfare 4 drops on October 23, expecting to access it through Game Pass only to find it unavailable.

Consequently, the marketing for Modern Warfare 4 is now clearly stating that the game “is not on Xbox Game Pass this year.” This message, first noted by an outlet, encourages players to pre-order digitally for seven-day early access to the campaign. Expect to see this reminder more frequently as the game’s marketing ramps up in the coming months.

Modern Warfare 4 is set to take players to Korea for the first time, kicking off a conflict between North and South Korea. Additionally, details about the multiplayer aspect are already surfacing, and the return of DMZ promises a massive extraction shooter mode that aims to compete with the best in the genre.

I’m not buying Infinite Warfare just for it to be ‘free’ the following week.