Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard games won't appear on Xbox Game Pass until next year. On the Official Xbox Podcast, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer claimed that players wouldn't be seeing a big drop of those titles immediately, due to the lengthy regulatory challenges the company faced in its buyout attempt. Since it was uncertain whether the acquisition would be approved by Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) until recently, Xbox wasn't able to do the groundwork for adding the catalogue to their gaming subscription service. Ahead of the deal's closure, Activision Blizzard confirmed on Twitter that the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and newly-launched Diablo IV won't be coming to Game Pass soon, but Spencer's statement covers older titles as well.
Cities: Skylines 2 delayed on console to Spring 2024 – still coming to PC on 24th October
28.09.2023 - 13:07 / thesixthaxis.com / Xbox Game Pass
Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive have delayed the console version of Cities: Skylines 2, pushing the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S release date back to Spring 2024. The PC version of the game is still expected to launch on 24th October 2023.
The team wrote:
“We are hard at work getting the game ready for our release on October 24th. While doing so, we have come to realize that we need more time to reach the quality targets we have set. As we want to provide the best experience for our players, we are updating the release window for Xbox and PS5 to Spring 2024. The additional time allows us to focus on matching the quality and performance across all platforms.”
In a follow up FAQ, it’s been noted that all digital pre-orders for the game on PS5 and Xbox Series will be automatically refunded. Additionally, the game’s launch into Game Pass has also been split – just as with the paid launch, it will join PC Game Pass in October, while the Xbox Game Pass release will come in Spring 2024.
They also clarified the PC specs for the game, with the following now required and recommended for 1080p play:
Cities: Skyline 2 is a fantastic-looking sequel to Colossal Order’s defining city builder, taking everything that was great about the original and improving plenty of areas that weren’t so great, alongside making the jump to a newer and more capable game engine.
We went hands on with the game, writing in our preview, “Cities: Skylines 2 is shaping up to be a pretty much a perfect example of a sequel. This isn’t some kind of crazy social experiment in city planning like Milton Keynes, but more like a city centre redevelopment plan that carefully looks to retain so much of the culturally significant builds and places, while also bringing so much modernisation alongside.”
Source: press release
Activision Blizzard Games Won’t Come to Game Pass Before 2024 – Phil Spencer
Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard surely hit its fair share of roadblocks in the approval process, but at long last, the deal was formally closed last week, with Microsoft officially welcoming Activision Blizzard King to Xbox. A deal of this magnitude is obviously going to have a significant impact on the industry for years to come, but where the immediate future is concerned, many will be hoping to see games in the Activision Blizzard back catalog being added to the Game Pass catalog.
Xbox Game Pass October 2023 Wave 2 Games Include Cities: Skylines 2
Microsoft has confirmed the list of new wave 2 games coming to throughout the final weeks of October 2023. The highlight of the list is Cities: Skylines 2 on PC, although there’s also the addition of Dead Space Remake on EA Play.
Xbox Game Pass will add Dead Space remake, F1 Manager 23 & Cities: Skylines 2 through October
Microsoft has confirmed the remaining batch of games that will be joining the Xbox Game Pass library through the rest of October 2023, headlined by the Dead Space remake, F1 Manager 23, Like a Dragon: Ishin! and the big new release of Cities: Skylines 2.
Xbox Game Pass adds Cities: Skylines II, Dead Space remake, Jusant, Mineko’s Night Market, and more in late October
Microsoft has announced new titles coming to Xbox Game Pass in late October, which includes Cities: Skylines II, the Dead Space remake, Jusant, Mineko’s Night Market, and more.
Cities: Skylines 2 console edition will support mods
Colossal Order and Paradox have confirmed that the console versions of Cities: Skylines 2 will gave access to mods, just like the PC version. The in game editor for the game will not be available right at the PC launch of Cities: Skylines 2, but will launch soon after with some mods already available for players to try.
Earth Defense Force 6 coming west in spring 2024 for PS5, PS4, and PC
D3 Publisher will release Earth Defense Force 6 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam in spring 2024, followed by Epic Games Store shortly after, the company announced.
War Hospital – Delayed to early 2024
War, what is it good for? Well usually a bunch of FPS titles and a handful of strategy games, but with War Hospital, there’s less focus on shooting people, and more on the people who are getting shot.
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile Pushed Back to Spring 2024 Release Window
Activision has announced that Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is getting delayed to Spring 2024. Originally thought to have been slated for a November release, the game has seen a limited release in some countries so far, including Australia, Chile, Norway and Sweden.
Call of Duty Warzone: Mobile has been delayed to spring 2024
Activision has delayed Call of Duty Warzone: Mobile’s launch window to 2024.
Diablo 4 Preview Season of Blood, Blizzard Announces Steam Release Coming on October 17th
Diablo 4 pulled back the curtain on the vampiric scourge that will descend upon Sanctuary on October 17th in Season 2. Blizzard will also release Diablo 4 on Steam the same day.
Forza Motorsport and Like a Dragon: Ishin! Lead October’s Game Pass Wave 1 Lineup
If you’re subscribed to Game Pass, you have quite a few notable upcoming releases to look forward to. Microsoft has revealed the lineup of games that will be added to the subscription service’s library in the coming days as part of the first wave of October additions, and there’s a couple of major titles to look forward to.