This is, arguably, the moment Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard finally bears fruit for Game Pass subscribers. Beyond Diablo 4, few Activision Blizzard titles have made it to the service yet, but the next few weeks will see the day-one addition of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, plus a major jewel of the Blizzard back catalog in the form of every single StarCraft campaign ever released, collected in both StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection.
Those are the headlines, but we knew them already — and, in Microsoft’s new pricing tier structure, they’re limited to PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. Microsoft hasn’t forgotten about subscribers to the Standard tier for console users. These members get a few older games — some returning to Game Pass after an earlier run on the service — that are still well worth checking out if you haven’t played them before: 2017’s comedy role-playing sequel South Park: The Fractured but Whole, 2018’s physics puzzler Donut County (in which you play as a hole in the ground), and Ashen, a compellingly moody indie Soulslike, also from 2018.
Elsewhere in the lineup, there’s expanded availability for a few games already on the service. Dead Island 2, already available on cloud and console, comes to PC Game Pass players. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which was added for PC and console players back in July, will be available to play on the cloud from the day of Black Ops 6’s release, as will battle royale Call of Duty: Warzone.
Here’s what’s coming to Game Pass in the rest of October and early November:
- South Park: The Fractured but Whole (cloud, console, and PC) — Oct. 16
- Donut County (cloud, console, and PC) — Oct. 17
- MechWarrior 5: Clans (cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X) — Oct. 17
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (cloud, console, and PC) — Oct. 25
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (cloud) — Oct. 25
- Call of Duty: Warzone (cloud) — Oct. 25
- Ashen (cloud, console, and PC) — Oct. 29
- Dead Island 2 (PC) — Oct. 31
- StarCraft: Remastered (PC) — Nov. 5
- StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection (PC) — Nov. 5
It is ordained that a few games must leave the service as new games are added, in order to maintain balance in the universe. The following games are all leaving Game Pass on Oct. 31. I must give a shout-out here to the fantastic mountain biking game Lonely Mountains: Downhill. Check it out when you still can — or if, like me, you’ve made it a staple of your Game Pass catalog, consider taking advantage of the member’s discount to add it to your collection permanently.
- Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery (cloud, console, and PC)
- Headbangers (cloud, console, and PC)
- Inkulinati (cloud, console, and PC)
- Lonely Mountains: Downhill (cloud, console, and PC)
- Mineko’s Night Market (cloud, console, and PC)
