Phil Spencer Explains Why ActiBlizz Titles Aren't Expected On Xbox Game Pass Just Yet

i really don't understand why the older cod games that are playable on series consoles couldn't be put on gp right now.

Mmmm, not really buying it. Almost immediately after the FTC lost their case, BC CoD Matchmaking was mysteriously fixed overnight. As if... it had been worked on and finished while the case was still going, and all they had to do was time the flipping of a switch. You're telling me they couldn't do that for Game Pass, not even just for the older games like the Spyro & Crash Trilogies?

Not that surprising. At least they will be there eventually.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bobby K lasts a bit longer than 12/31/23 too. The transition period will probably take longer than 2 months.

Also wouldn't be surprised if there was another round of layoffs at xbox during the transition.

I don't think it is as simple as flipping a switch. We have enough games in 2023 to play anyways.

That would have been the case regardless of if it was approved today or months ago.

Sounds more like lip service so they can have a holiday of sells before going to gamepass.

Which is perfectly fine mind you, doesn't bother me one bit.

Just feels weird, the wording.

Nothing Phil says is the truth. They want holiday sales before all goes away

@Rmg0731 For Diablo 4 totally but not sure what the holiday sales of crash and spyro trilogy, etc would be but I doubt it's enough to make a delay worth it.

Maybe it just isn't as simple as pushing a button. Phil's knowledge of that process is infinitely superior to any input we could give.

In other words they want to make sure Activisions games continue to sell this holiday season before they throw them up on gamepass un the new year.

Probably more the fact they already have oct/nov/dec game pass titles lined up and paid for so don’t want to dump a lot of ABK on top. Plus the two recent first party additions.

MS will want to spread out the releases. Plus their is more than likely a price increase to be had by dropping ABK stuff on it, and there’s only just recently been a rise.

They should have added a symbolic single game to demonstrate the acquisition. Other than that, the fall season is typically strong and it may be better to wait on spring game draught.

@rustyduck because it will eat away sales of mw3, and there is still this deal between activision and sony, and I think there’s somewhere in that deal that cod is not allowed on any subscription service.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner You are correct.
They want to use those games to pad out their 2024 line up too. They have Hellblade 2 and Avowed for 2024, but neither is quite as big a deal as Starfield or FM so better keep some CoD games (both newer ones and old ones) in the bag for the rainy days in 2024.

@BrilliantBill Hopefully they'll add stuff like the Crash and Spyro remake early in the year and during the big seasons like summer and winter they can go all out with the new stuff

I definitely thought that some titles would be available before the holiday season. Oh well.

They weren't able to work on that back catalog? My advice is to work harder.

Lot's of hot takes in this thread.

While I assume it would be great to see some Activsion/Blizzard games on gamepass I also feel like there already are so many great games available on the service right now that we dont need to worry to much. Or in be in a hurry for the Activsion games to arrive. Just my 2 cents.

@oopsiezz well trust me. I am not going to buy a COD game from 2007-2017.

@shoeses Xbox could probably work on the matchmaking on their end without involving Activision.

Now that the deal is done, Xbox probably wants to add the games in big batches. Christmas or January, March-Spring, Summer. Last year's CoD might go in early with this year's version being added in the summer or fall.

The Bethesda deal saw games being added in a couple days. However, we were not privy to that deal, waiting each day for news. It may have passed regulatory hurdles long before the deal was closed or the announcement. NTM, the regulators are still up their ass, so MS doesn't want to look like they were controlling Activision before Friday 10/13.

Answer: Because they have a track record of raking in buko bucks on their own. Furthermore, the big titles like Starfield and Forza on GP are purely to drive the subscriptions. They are considered perks/bonuses for being on Gamepass. If it weren't for the need for the largest monthly subscriber base possible, you wouldn't see a game like Starfield on there at all. Also, a lot of ActiBliz titles are mid-life and they wouldn't want to disrupt the momentum those titles have financially. Imagine of 10 million MW fans got mad because they paid 70 bucks for a game and it's suddenly on Gamepass.

The thing they want to sell the most this holiday season is Gamepass. I don't buy the holiday sales as a reason. Plus, they know they will still enjoy those multiplat sales for years to come.

😒 disappointing, can’t find my old Prototype 360 disc anymore and I’ve been wanting to start replaying it again for a couple of weeks now. (Yes, I could buy it on the store but the knowledge it’s coming to Gamepass keeps me from buying it now).

As they are desperately trying to get players interested in Halo again, this is no surprise.
Dumping all the old COD games on game pass guarantee's your halo audience will not give it a fair chance, so they will hang off doing that for a few months for sure.

What a bunch of bs. Why would the length of the regulatory process make any difference? The games are on your store already. You now own them. There's zero work to be done. It's 100% just milking sales and protecting the relevance of the most recent mainline game (which I don't expect them to hand out for free tbh).

I do think there will be a surprise drop before Christmas. It won't be mw3 (that'd p*ss off loads of people) but there will be something. It'll boost gamepass/xbox sales.