Microsoft’s long-teased plan to fold Activision Blizzard’s biggest franchises into its subscription ecosystem may still have a long runway. A fresh report suggests the next major step—bringing Call of Duty to Xbox Game Pass—could land in 2026 rather than sooner.
### A Longer Timeline for Call of Duty on Game Pass
According to the report, Microsoft is still working through logistical and commercial considerations around adding Call of Duty to Game Pass. While the company has already started expanding its first-party output into the service day one, Call of Duty is uniquely complicated: it’s annual, massively monetized, and deeply intertwined with platform marketing, premium sales, and in-game spending.
Since acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has publicly signaled that Game Pass integration is a priority, but it has moved in phases. Diablo IV’s arrival on Game Pass showed the pipeline is real; Call of Duty, however, is a different beast—one that can meaningfully shift consumer buying habits across Xbox, PC, and even competing platforms.
### Why Microsoft Might Wait
There are several reasons a 2026 target would make strategic sense. Microsoft may want to avoid cannibalizing full-price launch sales while it evaluates how to best structure value for subscribers versus traditional buyers. There’s also the question of how Game Pass perks would intersect with Call of Duty’s massive live-service economy—battle passes, bundles, premium editions, and recurring engagement systems.
On top of that, Microsoft is under continued scrutiny regarding how it handles multi-platform releases post-acquisition. Any major change to Call of Duty’s distribution model—especially one that heavily favors Xbox ecosystems—will be watched closely by both players and industry regulators.
### What This Could Mean for Players
If Call of Duty does arrive on Game Pass in 2026, it would be one of the subscription service’s biggest “value spikes” ever, potentially driving a new wave of sign-ups and shifting expectations for day-one access to blockbuster franchises. For players, it could lower the barrier to entry for yearly releases, but it may also accelerate the franchise’s pivot toward ongoing monetization to offset reduced upfront sales.
Ultimately, the biggest question isn’t whether Call of Duty comes to Game Pass—it’s what the final model looks like when it gets there, and whether it becomes a template for how other premium annual franchises adapt to the subscription era.
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