Xbox recently held the Official Xbox Podcast’s special edition, addressing all the rumors and leaks regarding it going third-party and exiting the hardware market. It revealed that four unnamed exclusive titles will be going to other platforms. But it was added that games like Starfield and Indiana Jones will remain exclusive to the platform, contrary to what the leaks stated.
One other major announcement was made during the podcast: Blizzard’s Diablo 4 will be joining Game Pass next month as the company looks to bring more games to more players. However, despite this, the game will still not join a key Xbox service due to terms set during Microsoft’s billion-dollar acquisition of Activision-Blizzard King.
Diablo 4 Will Not Be Available on Xbox Cloud Gaming
Diablo 4 is the first Activision-Blizzard game that has been announced to join Game Pass on March 28 as part of Xbox’s “commitment” to make the games reach “as widely as possible.” It added that with the arrival of Diablo 4 on Game Pass, over 34 million subscribers will be able to play it. However, the game will only be available on Xbox/PC Game Pass and not on Xbox Cloud Gaming.
The reason behind this is due to the deal Microsoft had to make with Ubisoft to get the ABK deal cleared. Microsoft completed the $68.7 billion acquisition of ABK after the UK’s competition watchdog, The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), cleared the deal in October 2023, which it had initially blocked citing concerns about the company dominating the cloud gaming market.
This was also confirmed by insider Jez Corden, as players had been asking him about the game coming to xCloud Gaming, and he added that the ruling applies worldwide, not just the EU. He also added that the company is working with Ubisoft to bring the game to cloud streaming services.
The deal was cleared as Microsoft sold the rights to its cloud gaming catalog to Ubisoft for the next 10 years, meaning that the game would be available on Ubisoft’s cloud gaming and not on xCloud.
Diablo 4: The Beginning of Activision-Blizzard Titles Coming to the Game Pass
This announcement of Diablo 4 joining Game Pass comes after Phil Spencer said last year that members will have to wait until 2024 for Activision-Blizzard games to come on the service, as many had hoped that soon after the acquisition the games would be rolled out on the subscription service.
As the games are now coming, starting with Diablo 4, players may soon see other games joining the service this year. Call of Duty games or World of Warcraft could also arrive on the service, which would be a major deal for the players. However, there are also chances that the more recent entries in the Call of Duty franchise might not get added to the service.
Players might get more updates on this during the Xbox Games Showcase that is slated to be held in June 2024. What are your thoughts about Diablo 4 not coming to xCloud Gaming? Let us know in the comment section.
