Microsoft ‘plans to put this year’s Call of Duty onto Game Pass’

videogameschronicle.com:

Microsoft will add this year’s Call of Duty game to Game Pass at release, it’s claimed.

According to the Wall Street Journal, sources with knowledge of the situation claim that this year’s entry, which has yet to be officially announced, will be included in the subscription service.

This would mark the first time a Call of Duty game has been included in such a service at launch, and would mean for players with access to Xbox platforms, the entry cost for the game would be as little as $11.

“Microsoft plans a major shakeup of its videogame sales strategy by releasing the coming installment of Call of Duty to its subscription service instead of the longtime, lucrative approach of only selling it a la carte,” according to the article.

Call of Duty’s inclusion on the service was a long-held sticking point in the protracted court battles following the merger of Xbox and Activision–Blizzard.

The game has almost uniformly been the year’s best-selling, which Sony suggested would give Microsoft an unfair advantage if they were to offer it to PlayStation players at full price.

The next Call of Duty game could be revealed this month through an in-game event in Warzone.

Code unearthed by dataminers following the release of the Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone Season 3 Reloaded update potentially hints at plans to announce the next series entry soon, ahead of a dedicated showcase for the game that’s expected next month.

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced plans to hold an Xbox Games Showcase on June 9, followed by another digital presentation for a mystery game.

According to The Verge, that game is the new Call of Duty, and publisher Activision is said to be targeting a late October release for the title.

Combing through the files for a recent Warzone update, dataminers reportedly uncovered a number of references to a Cerberus reveal during Season 3, which is expected to run until late May.

Players who pre-order the next Call of Duty game may also unlock a Frank Woods character in Warzone,