Marketing for Activision and Infinity Ward’s upcoming first-person shooter, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, prominently features a “not on Xbox Game Pass this year” message.
As seen in the image below, the official Call of Duty social media accounts (via ResetEra member CloseTalker) are promoting Modern Warfare 4 with a message highlighting that the upcoming first-person shooter will not be available on Xbox Game Pass this year. The messaging is rather odd, as it undermines Microsoft’s premium game subscription service. While the intent is likely to clear up any lingering confusion on the matter, the prominently featured text, “not on Xbox Game Pass this year” would’ve probably been better served as a footnote with an asterisk.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 not being offered on Xbox Game Pass this year appears to be part of Microsoft’s strategy to evaluate the financial viability of the subscription service. During a recent episode of The Business of Video Games Podcast, co-host Fernando Rizo, former Chief Sales and Business Development Officer at Raw Fury and now a Partner at Kaboodle Games, revealed that a lot of third-party developers and publishers who were in advanced negotiations for Xbox Game Pass deals with Microsoft have had “the rug pulled out from under them.”
Rizo recently attended the First Playable industry event in Italy, where the topic became a recurring conversation among developers. “I was at a very nice industry trade show in Italy, First Playable,” he said. “Word on the street was that loads of people who were in the frame for Game Pass deals i.e. nothing was inked yet, but the deals were in advanced discussions. Everybody got the rug pulled out from under them.” He clarified that he doesn’t believe the subscription service itself is in danger, rather that Microsoft appears to be reevaluating the program. “I don’t think Game Pass is over,” he said. “I think they’re on pause. I think they are figuring it out. That’s my read anyway.”
