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Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has finally gone through. The result of the official merge is gamers the world over beginning to widely speculate about when Activision Blizzard games will begin arriving on Xbox Game Pass and which ones the fans are going to get.
Microsoft has already stated that it’s unlikely any Activision Blizzard games will be arriving on Game Pass this year since things are still being worked out and settled in, but it’s safe to assume at this point that in 2024 at least a handful of Activision Blizzard games will hit Xbox’s popular game catalog service. It’s really just a matter of which ones at this point, and we think we have the answer.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
One of the most anticipated games for Xbox Game Pass has undoubtedly been Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. With the rise of free-to-play battle royale shooters in recent years like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and even CoD itself with Warzone, fans have speculated when/if Activision would ever decide to start making its most popular FPS entirely free-to-play. The Microsoft acquisition may signal the beginning of that era, and Xbox Game Pass seems like a good place for the aging First-Person Shooter franchise to transition to after a turbulent few years attempting to adjust to the current state of the industry.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2
The combined remake of the first two Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games revitalized the image of the series for many who noted it had gone somewhat downhill in quality and waned in relevance with more recent entries as a result. One of the best additions to the original PlayStation classics is the online play, which would be greatly enhanced if the game is added to Game Pass at some point in the future.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Xbox Game Pass has always sorely lacked the presence of FromSoftware’s popular Soulsborne titles. Frankly, there was never really any incentive for FromSoftware to put the games on the service considering the fanbase for the series is passionate enough that every game consistently does amazing sales numbers without any free-to-play incentive. Activision happens to be the international publisher of one FromSoftware Soulsborne title though, 2019’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The addition of a Game of the Year sweeper like Sekiro would certainly be a welcome addition to Game Pass, even if it just recently got another major Souls-like in Lies of P.
Crash Team Rumble
Both of Activision Blizzard’s recent major multiplayer additions to the iconic Crash Bandicoot franchise have suffered a bit from not being available on any kind of service that makes the games freely available to a large player base. In the current state of the gaming industry, going straight-up free-to-play like Fortnite or having limited free distribution after launch like Rocket League can be an amazing way to reel new players in and push the title into the spotlight. Crash Team Rumble has the ingredients to be a successful multiplayer title with fun and original gameplay that isn’t really competing with anything else in the AAA space at the moment, and the game’s addition on Xbox Game Pass could be the thing that fully opens up the title to the wider audience it deserves. On top of that, the addition of Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled would be wonderful, even if the game stopped receiving new map and character updates some time ago.
Diablo 4
Blizzard’s most recent major Diablo 4 could certainly benefit from the player base push that being added to Game Pass often adds. Diablo 4 received fairly positive feedback from fans and critics alike upon the game’s release back in June 2023. There has been some recent controversy following far less popular updates to the game that has estranged many early adopters and killed the fresh hype a little bit. If Activision Blizzard can address these concerns and present a more positive Diablo 4 to Xbox Game Pass then the game could easily be one of the most popular on the service and a major reason to sign up for many players.
