XBOX Game Pass Debate Intensifies as Modern Warfare 4 Sales Decline and New Platform Changes Emerge

There are a few developments on XBOX to watch out for, from the ongoing discussion about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 to changes to Game Pass availability and the company’s efforts to improve its digital storefront. Modern Warfare 4 has not been as popular with players as previous titles, it’s said, which makes you question whether the decision to remove the game from day-one Game Pass availability was the right one.

Meanwhile, new third-party tools are allowing PC Game Pass games to run natively on supported Android devices without using cloud streaming. XBOX is targeting low-effort games, creating a new Playback feature for its 25th anniversary, and highlighting the huge file size expected for Grand Theft Auto 6.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is the biggest controversy, breaking away from Microsoft’s strategy.

Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7 were available on Game Pass at launch. The latest entry reportedly left the service as Microsoft tried to make Game Pass more affordable and boost its subscription growth. The earlier price of $30 a month reportedly led to cancellations and failed to create the desired growth. 

With Modern Warfare 4 the franchise has reportedly got some of its strongest reviews in years, which would usually suggest the game could do well commercially and attract a large player base. However, the reported figures paint a different picture, with its player activity on XBOX said to be down 32% compared with Black Ops 7.

The game has also reportedly recorded around 30% fewer concurrent players on Steam than Black Ops 6 achieved at its launch peak. These comparisons do not establish that Game Pass alone is responsible for the decline, but they highlight the difficulty of measuring a game's performance when its release strategy changes.

Game Pass availability can bring in players who would not otherwise spend $70 on a new Call of Duty release. Those players can still be part of the larger ecosystem of the game by interacting with it and making optional microtransactions that earn revenue beyond the initial purchase.

“Removing day one access could lead to more direct sales, but it could also lead to less people playing and spending money in the game.” Without more granular sales and engagement numbers, it’s unclear if the extra purchases would offset the loss of audience from removing the game from Game Pass.

There are other things to consider when comparing Modern Warfare 4 with the older entries.

The newest release is not on PlayStation 4 or XBOX One, platforms that supported cross-gen releases in the past and still had players actively playing Call of Duty. It may find new fans with its arrival on the Nintendo Switch 2, but it may not be enough to compensate the gamers who haven’t bought the newer console. XBOX now faces the challenge of balancing selling games directly against the bigger picture of millions of players jumping into the franchise through Game Pass. You could make day-one access an optional subscription tier, but again, no such change has been announced.

Another issue has emerged around Modern Warfare 4's review availability. Despite being an XBOX first-party release, the game reportedly had no XBOX review scores available when the discussion took place. Promotional material highlighting its strong Metacritic reception featured Nintendo, PlayStation, and PC versions but omitted XBOX. 

XBOX CTO Jason Ronald addressed the problem, acknowledging that reviewing games on XBOX currently involves too many steps. He said the team is working toward a process in which members of the press and content creators can redeem review codes and play games more easily, with the first improvements expected soon. 

This is especially important because review codes are meant to let journalists and creators review a game on the platform they’re covering.

The complications reported around Modern Warfare 4 show how the current process can create unnecessary headaches, even for a big first-party title. A simpler system would let a code be redeemed once and then access a compatible game on supported XBOX hardware. These changes may not affect gamers buying games the way they normally do, but they could improve how future releases are reviewed and promoted.

On another note, PC Game Pass is also getting easier to access, with third-party tools enabling supported Android devices to natively run games instead of relying solely on XBOX Cloud Gaming. The Droid Deck app reportedly allows Android users to play PC games from Game Pass, providing gamers with another option for playing on handheld devices.

This is especially true for those who have been using cloud streaming, particularly with the concerns of restrictions on cloud gaming usage for heavy users. However, it’s still early days for the feature, and compatibility and performance may differ depending on the device and the game.

Performance examples reported suggest that some of the lighter titles can run reasonably well on compatible hardware. Apparently, Hollow Knight: Silksong has hit over 100 frames per second on devices such as the AYANEO Thor, and Minecraft Dungeons 2 has apparently reached around 30 to 40 frames per second.

These figures are not a guarantee for any Android device, as high-demanding games will have their own hardware requirements. Still, native access would allow players to download supported games and play them without relying on an internet connection for continuous cloud streaming.

For now, the main benefit of this development is for Android users, as iOS users still don’t have access to the same functionality through Droid Deck.

Other community efforts have also explored getting PC Game Pass on devices such as the Steam Deck and playing XBOX One games on iPhones. These developments demonstrate how third-party developers are finding ways to increase access to Microsoft’s library of games. If XBOX does eventually release official native apps for more platforms, that could help make the ecosystem more accessible without players needing to rely on unofficial solutions.

Microsoft is going after low-quality games that abuse the achievement system on Xbox. Some developers have released almost the same title on XBOX Series X|S, XBOX One and Windows PC several times, each time with a different list of achievements. There are legitimate reasons to have separate releases. The problem is that the developers are using duplicate releases to help players increase their Gamerscore with minimal effort. The company is said to be tightening its publishing guidelines to address titles that do not provide distinct gameplay experiences.

The changes reported may mean the same games are published without any significant changes, which could be a violation of section 10.1 of the publishing guidelines, all about unique functionality and experiences. The move could also mean fewer low-effort releases clogging up the XBOX store and making it easier for players to find games that actually offer something more in terms of content.

It also signals a broader effort to improve the publishing process as Microsoft prepares for future hardware and ecosystem developments, including Project Helix. Alongside the changes to review codes, the crackdown suggests that XBOX is addressing several smaller but important problems affecting its platform.

Another feature expected to return in a different form is XBOX's annual gaming recap.

Following the absence of the traditional year-in-review feature last year, a new experience called Playback has reportedly appeared in early testing ahead of the company's 25th anniversary. The feature is not publicly available yet, but early information suggests it will let players explore their gaming history through a personalized archive. 

The playback is also expected to highlight personal achievements and gaming habits such as the rarest achievement earned, games completed, and longest play streak. The feature could allow players an easy way to check their gaming history and share their stats with friends. We don’t know if it will be available long-term, but a persistent archive that updates as players continue to game would add more value to the feature than just an annual recap. 

Finally, Grand Theft Auto 6 has attracted attention over its reported file size of approximately 210GB, based on information associated with the PlayStation version. The final installation size could differ across PlayStation, XBOX, and the eventual PC release, so the figure should not be treated as a confirmed universal requirement.

Even so, it highlights how much storage players might need to reserve for Rockstar Games' upcoming open-world release. XBOX has also drawn attention to the game through a post featuring the title on an XBOX Series X, reportedly generating around 3.6 million views.