Skip to main content

Xbox Game Pass is getting its first Call of Duty game

Xbox isn’t waiting until Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 to get a Call of Duty game on Game Pass. The company announced Tuesday that 2023’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be added to the service on Wednesday, July 24.

The announcement was heavily rumored beforehand, with reports from outlets like Insider Gaming, but it was made official on Xbox Wire. Xbox confirmed that the game will be hitting Game Pass for Console, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Ultimate (so every old tier ahead of the upcoming price hike), and it will include most modes, including single-player and the more open-world Zombies mode. It doesn’t appear to include Warzone, the series’ battle royale spinoff, although that’s free to play.

Recommended Videos

Activision has been remaking the Modern Warfare trilogy over the past few years. It hit the ground running with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, a remake of Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareModern Warfare 2 was similarly a hit.

Modern Warfare 3 didn’t receive great reviews from critics. We at Digital Trends said it might be “the series’ worst installment yet,” as it had nothing to say in its single-player campaign, as well as boring missions and no original 6v6 maps for its multiplayer. It doesn’t feature much that’s original at all in multiplayer, bringing back classic maps from the original Modern Warfare 2. However, there are modern tweaks, including the deeper weapon customization we’ve seen over the past few years.

Despite the flaws, this is a Call of Duty game, and while some sell better than others, they all draw millions of players. Modern Warfare 3, in particular, was the second bestselling game of the year behind Hogwarts Legacy. 

Since Microsoft finalized its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, fans have been waiting for those games to get added to Game Pass. While nothing has been finalized yet, rumors suggest that Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is coming soon.

Carli Velocci
Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…
3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (December 6-8)
Crash Bandicoot in Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled.

Microsoft outlined the last batch of games coming to Xbox Game Pass this year in a post earlier this week, and many of those titles got added to the service later in the week. One surprising trend in this final Game Pass game batch of 2024 is that three great racing games came to different subscription service tiers. Running (or I guess driving) the gamut from extremely cartoonish to overtly simulation-focused, fans of racing games have many new options to choose from this weekend on Xbox Game Pass.
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled Reveal Trailer

In the wake of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy's success, Activision had its studio Beenox remake Crash Team Racing for modern gaming platforms. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is undeniably the king when it comes to the best cartoon kart racers available nowadays, but Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is the closest any game has come to taking that crown. The wacky world and characters of Crash Bandicoot are a perfect fit for a Kart Racer, and this game even features some crossover content featuring Spyro the Dragon and extras from Crash Team Racing games other than the PS1 original. Its adventure mode also gives it a meatier single-player offering than most racing games, so there's a lot for Game Pass subscribers to sink their teeth into here.

Read more
Xbox Game Pass will lose 13 games in December, including Forza Horizon 4
forza horizon 4 xbox windows october

Xbox Game Pass games come and go every month, but December sees a total of 13 games leaving the service, including Rise of the Tomb Raider and Forza Horizon 4.

It's a definite bummer for subscribers, especially since Forza Horizon 4 still holds up even next to its successor (but not unexpected, as its DLC was delisted in June). All of these games are 20% off while they're still in the Game Pass library, so you can save a little dough to keep your favorites.

Read more
Stalker 2 gets its first big patch with over 650 bug fixes
Key art for Stalker 2. A character in a lit-up gas mask and a gun on their back.

GSC Game World has released Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl's first big patch for PC and Xbox. It has over 650 fixes across the spectrum, including ones that would prevent the player from progressing and fixing an issue where corpses had terrifyingly long limbs.

The studio posted the Patch 1.0.1 patch notes Friday, and there are almost too many fixes to highlight. The lot features fixes to memory leaks and crashes, NPC behavior, movement issues, objectives that couldn't be completed, and physics where objects would just float. There were also problems with character faces where eyes and teeth just looked ... off. Fixes have been released for those, too.

Read more