Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is coming to Xbox Cloud Gaming, despite Ubisoft owning the rights — but where’s Diablo 4?

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is coming to Xbox Cloud Gaming, despite Ubisoft owning the rights — but where's Diablo 4?

What you need to know

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available day one via Xbox Cloud Gaming when it launches on Oct. 25, 2024. 
  • Microsoft was forced to sell off the Cloud streaming rights to Activision Blizzard King games to Ubisoft, meaning the company has to pay Ubisoft in order to add these games to Xbox Cloud Gaming. 
  • Xbox Cloud Gaming is included as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which also includes day one access to new Xbox first-party games. 
  • Diablo 4 was the first Activision Blizzard King title added to Xbox Game Pass, but the hack-and-slash RPG is not available on Xbox Cloud Gaming right now.

As a seasoned analyst with years of experience in the gaming industry, I must say that the recent developments regarding Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Xbox Cloud Gaming have piqued my interest. On one hand, it’s exciting to see Microsoft expanding its gaming subscription service by securing another high-profile title for day one access. However, the situation with Diablo 4 not being available on Xbox Cloud Gaming yet is puzzling, especially considering the genre’s compatibility with cloud streaming.


One of the biggest games of the year will be available to stream through the Cloud. 

On October 25, Microsoft announced via Xbox Wire that at launch, gamers can play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 from Treyarch, Raven Software, and Activision Publishing through Xbox Cloud Gaming. In addition to this new release, gamers will also have access on the same day to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty: Warzone via Xbox Cloud Gaming as well.

Through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Microsoft’s gaming subscription, you can access Xbox Cloud Gaming – this service also provides early access to the standard versions of first-party games like those from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks on their release day. However, not all Activision Blizzard King games are guaranteed for Xbox Cloud Gaming.

This happened as Microsoft transferred the streaming rights for certain titles to Ubisoft, a move that allowed them to secure approval from the CMA (the U.K.’s regulatory body) for their acquisition of Activision Blizzard King.

Analysis: Microsoft paid to get Call of Duty on Cloud, but where is Diablo 4?

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is coming to Xbox Cloud Gaming, despite Ubisoft owning the rights — but where's Diablo 4?

This year, Diablo 4, a role-playing game developed by Blizzard Entertainment under Activision Blizzard King, was added to Xbox Game Pass. However, unlike other games in Xbox Game Pass, you can’t play Diablo 4 using Xbox Cloud Gaming. So far, not many games from Activision’s older collection have been included in the service, but interestingly, the Crash Bandicoot trilogy is one of them and it does support Xbox Cloud Gaming. It’s puzzling that Diablo seems to be the only game from Activision that doesn’t follow this trend.

It’s quite intriguing, isn’t it? When considering the types of games under discussion, here’s the twist: Call of Duty, being made more accessible via Cloud gaming, is terrific news for a broader audience, but high-speed first-person shooters tend to struggle with increased latency. Conversely, games like Diablo 4 with a fixed camera view are more adaptable when streamed, as demonstrated by NVIDIA GeForce NOW.

Indeed, it’s quite plausible that Diablo 4 could be coming to Xbox Cloud Gaming in the near future. Microsoft is actively working on its cloud gaming strategies, and soon gamers will be able to purchase and play games directly within the Xbox App on Android devices. This service is expected to grow, allowing players to access games they already own as well.

The intrigue deepens as Ubisoft, current owner of the streaming rights, could soon be acquired by Tencent and the Guillemots. If this happens, we’ll have to watch closely to find out what becomes of these rights. Stay tuned for updates!

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2024-10-14 19:39