The release of the next installment in the Call of Duty franchise — Modern Warfare 4 — is officially scheduled for Friday, October 23, 2026. The project will mark a return to the Modern Warfare universe after two years of Black Ops releases. However, this time Activision and Microsoft have decided to change their approach to distributing the game among Xbox Game Pass subscribers.
Activision has officially confirmed that Modern Warfare 4 will not be available on Game Pass on day one. At launch, players will have to purchase the full version of the game.
This decision comes as a result of significant financial losses for Microsoft over the past year, caused by weak sales of Black Ops 7. Due to BO7's underperformance, users canceled their subscriptions en masse, negatively affecting the Game Pass service as a whole.
The game's absence from the subscription service at release does not mean a complete abandonment of the platform. According to Activision, Modern Warfare 4 will be added to the Game Pass catalog sometime in 2027 — likely in late summer or early fall.
Meanwhile, Xbox leadership continues to adjust its Game Pass policy following the price hike in early 2026, which was tied to bringing the Call of Duty series to the service. Skipping a day-one release for MW4 on the subscription service is intended to stabilize direct game sales and improve the financial balance sheet for Activision and Microsoft.
As a reminder, Rockstar announced an extended overview of GTA 6: the premiere will take place this month.
