Microsoft Still Evaluating Whether to Put CoD on Game Pass (and a Game Pass Price Increase), Hellblade II PS5

Microsoft plans to release the coming installment of the "Call of Duty" videogame to its subscription service, in a departure from its longtime practice of only selling the title independently, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Microsoft is poised to add the newest Call of Duty series entry to Xbox Game Pass.

Is Call of Duty coming to Xbox Game Pass? When Microsoft first began pursuing it’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, many assumed using Call of Duty to bolster Game Pass was one of their goals, but things have changed since then. Game Pass growth has slowed, badly missing growth targets, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer has admitted there’s a ceiling to its success. While some Activision Blizzard games like Diablo IV have been added to Game Pass, recent reports suggested that Microsoft was still “evaluating” whether to do the same with the headliner that is Call of Duty.

Microsoft is reportedly planning to put the unannounced 2024 game on from day one. The move is supposedly meant to shakeup Microsoft’s videogame sales strategy and is expected to be announced at the Xbox Games Showcase held next month.

A  report from Windows Central written by Jez Corden has revealed that the codename for Microsoft’s plan to make it’s games multi-platform is ‘Latitude’. The name seems fairly on the nose as it means “scope for freedom of action or thought”, or in this case, freedom for Microsoft to put their games on rival consoles.

Yesterday, Sony Interactive Entertainment revealed that its PS5 console had sold 59.2 million units as of March 31, slightly below Sony's own forecast.

may not have been the silver bullet Microsoft hoped for. However, it’s still a way for subscribers to play several free games every month. The second half of May sees the arrival of twelve more games, including a major new release.

Microsoft has announced new titles coming to Xbox Game Pass in late May, which includes Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, Immortals of Aveum, Lords of the Fallen, and more.

Microsoft has announced the second wave of titles coming to Game Pass in May, starting with the original Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, available today for cloud, consoles and PC. On May 15th, subscribers can check out the acclaimed puzzle adventureChants of Sennar. May 16th sees the arrival of EA Sports NHL 24 on the cloud and Immortals of Aveum for cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S.

Just over a year ago, Tango Gameworks and Xbox released Hi-Fi Rush, a musical delight that seemed to come out of nowhere. Hi-Fi Rush received almost universal acclaim – it was wholly unique, polished, and tightly paced. It was also like nothing developer Tango Gameworks had ever made before, and seemingly made explicitly for Xbox Game Pass. It followed closely in the footsteps of games like Psychonauts 2 and Pentiment, neither of which match the profile of the big, blockbuster AAAs that move millions upon millions of copies, and yet they were beloved anyway. Taken as a whole, they lent credibility and prestige to Xbox Game Pass as an accessible library of well-supported, beautifully crafted art.

While the Metro UI wasn’t the best way of interacting with your desktop or laptop computer, it could be the best way to interact with Windows on your handheld PC. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, Microsoft should unretire Metro and unleash it on handheld PCs, here’s why.

Following rumors about Microsoft debating whether Call of Duty should come to Game Pass, Xbox president Sarah Bond reiterated that all first-party titles from the publisher arrive on day one for the service. That includes Activision’s titles, but she didn’t discuss rumors about Game Pass potentially receiving a price hike. Nevertheless, it seems to be happening.