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Activision Blizzard games are finally trickling into Xbox Game Pass, starting with Diablo 4 in March.
Activision Blizzard games are finally coming to Xbox Game Pass, more than four months after the company’s merger with Microsoft was finalised. During an episode of the Official Xbox Podcast released this week, Xbox President Sarah Bond announced that Diablo 4 is coming to Xbox Game Pass on March 28 as the first of multiple planned Activision Blizzard titles bound for the service.
The official Xbox Twitter/X account also confirmed that this marks its first step to “fulfil our promise to offer Activision Blizzard games with Game Pass.”
Diablo 4 comes to Game Pass
Microsoft first announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2022, but only closed the merger after going through a long series of legal cases and court hearings from international regulators like the FTC. The deal cost Microsoft a hefty $68.7 billion, but the company warned players that Activision Blizzard games won’t be coming to Game Pass on day one like its other first-party exclusives. They will come to Game Pass eventually, so long as people are willing to wait for them.
Diablo 4 is the first of Activision Blizzard’s recent games to launch on Xbox Game Pass, becoming available to subscribers on March 28. That means both console and Xbox Game Pass subscribers will immediately be able to jump into the base campaign and current season of content, which features robot companions and new dungeon types. If the official Xbox tweet is anything to go by, Diablo 4 is only the first of many Activision Blizzard games soon to be available on Game Pass.
With Activision Blizzard games now on the menu, Microsoft can now put a colourful variety of popular titles on Game Pass - though newer launches like this year’s Call of Duty won’t be available on the service at launch. Bethesda games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle won’t be under the same restrictions, however. Microsoft also confirmed during this week’s podcast that Indiana Jones and Starfield are going to stay Xbox-exclusive despite earlier rumours of PlayStation 5 ports, but four mystery games are coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch.
Although unconfirmed by Microsoft, all signs point to these games being Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded, Pentiment and Sea of Thieves. Diablo 4’s first expansion will also launch later this year, so now is the time for new players to catch up.