Xbox Game Pass is getting its first Call of Duty game

By Carli Velocci July 23, 2024

Xbox isn’t waiting until Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 to get a Call of Duty game on Game Pass. The company announced Tuesday that 2023’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be added to the service on Wednesday, July 24.

The announcement was heavily rumored beforehand, with reports from outlets like Insider Gaming, but it was made official on Xbox Wire. Xbox confirmed that the game will be hitting Game Pass for Console, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Ultimate (so every old tier ahead of the upcoming price hike), and it will include most modes, including single-player and the more open-world Zombies mode. It doesn’t appear to include Warzone, the series’ battle royale spinoff, although that’s free to play.

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Activision has been remaking the Modern Warfare trilogy over the past few years. It hit the ground running with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, a remake of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Modern Warfare 2 was similarly a hit.

Modern Warfare 3 didn’t receive great reviews from critics. We at Digital Trends said it might be “the series’ worst installment yet,” as it had nothing to say in its single-player campaign, as well as boring missions and no original 6v6 maps for its multiplayer. It doesn’t feature much that’s original at all in multiplayer, bringing back classic maps from the original Modern Warfare 2. However, there are modern tweaks, including the deeper weapon customization we’ve seen over the past few years.

Despite the flaws, this is a Call of Duty game, and while some sell better than others, they all draw millions of players. Modern Warfare 3, in particular, was the second bestselling game of the year behind Hogwarts Legacy.

Since Microsoft finalized its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, fans have been waiting for those games to get added to Game Pass. While nothing has been finalized yet, rumors suggest that Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is coming soon.

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Contributor, Games

Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…

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Although it's one of the most successful video game franchises out there, Call of Duty's quality varies significantly from game to game, with some fantastic entries in the series, but many mediocre ones as well. But which Call of Duty games are worth your time and which ones should you skip? To answer that question, we've ranked all the mainline entries in the series, with details about why you should or shouldn't play a particular game.

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Is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on Game Pass?

A soldier crouching with his eyes blacked out.

When Microsoft announced that it was acquiring Activision, the big question on everyone's mind was what would happen with Call of Duty. Well, it took months of legal battles, but the deal finally went through and the first CoD game to release officially under Microsoft is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Xbox has held firm to its commitment to put all of its first-party titles onto Game Pass on day one for all its subscribers, but is it honoring that deal for the biggest game of the year? We know it isn't an Xbox exclusive and is still cross-platform, after all. If you have an Xbox and a subscription to Game Pass, you might not need to spend any money on Black Ops 6, but only if you meet one specific requirement.
Is Black Ops 6 on Game Pass?

The short answer is yes, Black Ops 6 is on Game Pass, but not at every tier. Prior to Black Ops 6 launching, Xbox restructured its Game Pass tiers a bit with new pricing and benefits. What you need to know is that you now need to either be a PC Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate subscriber to get access to any first-party day-one titles.