Overview
- Meta’s ad library and multiple outlets show pre‑order ads for Modern Warfare 4 began running on June 27 across Facebook, Instagram and Threads and explicitly state the game will not appear on Xbox Game Pass this year.
- The ads pair that message with a pre‑order incentive that offers early access to the game’s campaign as a reason to buy now rather than wait for any later subscription listing.
- Microsoft formally announced in April that new Call of Duty releases would not launch on its subscription service and would be delayed for at least a year, a policy tied to recent Game Pass pricing changes.
- Reporting by Bloomberg and follow‑up coverage links prior day‑one Game Pass inclusion to weaker full‑price sales—one account estimated Xbox forfeited more than $300 million after Black Ops 6 launched on the service and then saw an unusually steep post‑launch drop.
- The ads underline a larger tension from Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard: balancing subscriber growth for a service with the need to sell blockbuster games to paying customers.