This year’s Call Of Duty entry is releasing on day one on Xbox Game Pass, in just a few months, but the multi-billion dollar franchise will make its long-awaited debut on the subscription service even earlier than expected.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, last year’s middling entry in the blockbuster series, will be added to Game Pass as soon as July 24, according to several sources, including XboxEra and Insider Gaming. Insider Gaming’s report says the company will make a proper announcement on Tuesday.
Update: Microsoft confirmed the speculation on Tuesday in an Xbox Wire blog post.
Modern Warfare 3’s Game Pass release coincides with the start of its fifth season, making it the perfect time to jump into its multiplayer suite. The new season will add two new multiplayer maps, updates to the game’s Zombie mode, a new duos mode, and new playable operators from the world of WWE, including Cody Rhodes, Rey Mysterio, and the internet’s favorite goth baddie, Rhea Ripley.
Since Xbox announced its intent to purchase Activision Blizzard in 2022, it seemed inevitable that gaming’s biggest franchise would join the Netflix-like gaming service. To many fans’ disappointment however, Xbox was quick to cool expectations after closing the purchase last October with a statement that said Call Of Duty and other Activision classics wouldn’t join Game Pass for the foreseeable future.
Now that the dust has settled on the deal, Xbox has been fully leveraging Activision’s biggest brand over the last couple of months. Xbox’s Sarah Bond spoke candidly about what Call Of Duty will do for the service. The company dedicated an entire presentation to Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6’s premiere during Summer Games Fest last month.
Over the weekend, in a court filing responding to the Federal Trade Commission's accusation that Game Pass’ restructured, more expensive tiers are delivering a “degraded product,” Microsoft used the imminent inclusion of Call Of Duty on the service as justification for the recent Game Pass’ price hike.
Adding Modern Warfare 3 to Game Pass is a no-brainer way to spark immediate interest in Game Pass and to prepare players for the October launch of Black Ops 6. The new addition also comes just a week after Amazon began selling a new Xbox Fire Stick bundle, allowing people to jump into the Game Pass ecosystem for the affordable price of a subscription and a controller. Modern Warfare 3 is a great addition for those who are brand new to the service.
While it’s exciting to see such a big release on Game Pass, last year’s game is far from the best in the series. Modern Warfare 3 earned a paltry 56 average on Metacritic when it released. The game was criticized for its lackluster, three-hour-long single-player campaign, and a multiplayer suite that felt more like a major update to the previous year’s game than a full $70 release.
Modern Warfare 3 will likely make a better impression as an added value to an already strong library of exceptional games. But I’m still holding my breath for some of the best in the series, like 2012’s Black Ops 2 and 2016’s sci-fi departure Advanced Warfare to drop on Game Pass.
It’s poised to be a big summer for Call Of Duty fans. Not only will Modern Warfare 3 likely see a flood of new, curious players, but the beta for Black Ops 6 is expected to begin in August. The beta will be free to anyone who pre-ordered the upcoming game and to Game Pass subscribers.
