Ahead of September’s price hike.
Image credit: Activision
Amid of swirl of rumours suggesting Microsoft was prepping more Call of Duty for an imminent Xbox Game Pass release, the company has confirmed last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will join on its subscription service this Wednesday, 24th July.
As per Microsoft’s announcement, Game Pass subscribers will have access to all Modern Warfare 3 modes, meaning its single-player campaign, multiplayer, and open-world Zombies.
Modern Warfare 3 is only the second Activision Blizzard title to hit Game Pass since Microsoft’s $69bn acquisition of the company last year, with Diablo 4 having launched for the subscription service back in March. It’s not the only announced Activision title for Game Pass, of course; this year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available to subscribers when it arrives on 24th October.
Or rather, it’ll be available to some Game Pass subscribers in October, given Microsoft’s recent overhaul of the service. As of 12th September, Game Pass’ basic catalogue tier – now known as Xbox Game Pass Standard – will no longer provide access to first-party and other titles on launch day. That benefit will instead only be available to subscribers of Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, with all tiers getting a price increase.
Modern Warfare 3’s imminent Game Pass arrival is presumably intended to convince existing subscribers to stick around once September’s price hike arrives. Whether or not this particular Call of Duty will do the trick remains to be seen – Eurogamer’s Chris Tapsell didn’t think much of it last year, calling it an “exercise in extracting value from its players rather than providing it” and “what happens when this industry is at its worst”, in his two star review.
