A new report has suggested that Microsoft is weighing up removing Call of Duty from Day One on Xbox Game Pass, as the sheer size of the series is causing “harm” to the service.

Following MIcrosofts $70 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard which was completed in 2023, new Call of Duty Games have been available on Game Pass on launch day. Starting with 2024’s Black Ops 6, anyone with a subscription has been able to jump into the latest CoD at no extra cost.

But while this might sound like a slam dunk for both Xbox and Activision, Windows Central’s Jez Corden has claimed there’s a chance that this year’s CoD, widely expected to be Modern Warfare 4, could skip Game Pass on day one.

Xbox considering removing CoD from Day One on Game Pass

In an episode of the XB2 podcast, Corden explained that Call of Duty is likely one of the reasons that the price of Game Pass has ramped up in recent years.

“I think one of the reasons they had to [raise the price] is Call of Duty,” he said in the video. “Game Pass has disrupted Call of Duty’s business model in a pretty negative way.”

“Call of Duty is so big even in an off-year that it sort of harms Game Pass, but at the same time, the idea that you don’t have to buy Call of Duty and get it for cheaper also hurts Call of Duty in reverse.”

He went on to speculate that Xbox could create a new tier of Game Pass that will house bigger titles, while the regular subscription goes back to its cheaper cost, before also revealing that he’d heard rumblings of CoD not being a Day One game in 2026.

“If they take Call of Duty out of Game Pass this year, which is a possibility from what I’ve heard, I think it’ll kind of reveal some of the cracks in the strategy,” Corden continued. “Revenue was down because Call of Duty revenue was down, and Call of Duty is not exclusive.”

If this does turn out to be the case, it’s very likely that Modern Warfare 4 would still arrive on Game Pass later down the line. However, this decision would mean that anyone who wanted to play it on launch day would need to buy it at full price.