8 Call of Duty Games Still Not Available on Game Pass

The series has lost some of its former shine, but there was a time when a new Call of Duty release felt like a cultural event. Even if the hype never quite matched that of Grand Theft Auto 6, few franchises commanded this much attention year after year.

When Microsoft acquired Activision, plenty of us expected the back catalog to land on Xbox Game Pass in short order. Why else spend that much money, if not to put those beloved classics in front of subscribers? Yet the library has been thin ever since, and many of the most celebrated entries can still only be bought outright. With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 arriving Oct. 23, here are eight Call of Duty games that are inexplicably absent from Game Pass, and that we’d love to see added soon.

8. Call of Duty: Black Ops

Released: Nov. 9, 2010

After Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, it was hard to imagine how the series could possibly outdo itself. Call of Duty: Black Ops answered with a high-energy campaign packed with audacious set pieces, including a plot to assassinate Fidel Castro. It gave the franchise some of its most memorable characters, and that was only the beginning. Without Black Ops, we’d never have gotten Nuketown, the compact multiplayer map that so many of us still adore. Keeping it off Game Pass is a genuine injustice.

7. Call of Duty: World at War

Released: Nov. 10, 2008

Like most of the series up to that point, World at War delivered a gripping tale set during World War 2, but that isn’t what most fans remember. They remember the zombies. Developer Treyarch introduced the mode here, and it proved so popular that it became a staple of later releases. Players teamed up to hold off ever-stronger waves of the undead, dashing between locations and fighting to last as long as they could against a relentless horde. If you enjoy battling zombies in Call of Duty, you have this one game to thank, and it’s a shame it’s missing from Game Pass. For a more modern take on World War 2, there’s always 2017’s Call of Duty: WW2.

6. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Released: Nov. 4, 2014

You’ve probably come across the meme “Press F to pay respects.” It originated in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Early in the campaign, you attend the funeral of a fallen friend, wounded and missing an arm after a recent mission. As you stand over the coffin, an on-screen prompt tells you to press a button to mourn. Also in attendance is Jonathan Irons, the dead soldier’s father. Voiced by Kevin Spacey, Irons drives a story about the uneasy relationship between private industry and the U.S. government. It’s an engaging, gloriously over-the-top yarn, in the best tradition of the series’ campaigns, even if it sometimes feels a little contrived. It’s an experience modern players are still missing out on.

5. Call of Duty: Ghosts

Released: Nov. 4, 2013

Although three studios shared the workload on the series, many fans saw Infinity Ward as the home of Call of Duty at its best. After the very public departure of Vince Zampella and Jason West in 2010, the remaining team had plenty to prove. Call of Duty: Ghosts was their answer. Co-developed with Neversoft (Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater) and Raven Software, it suffered from sluggish pacing and less inspired maps, yet it still delivered a few of the adrenaline-soaked sequences the franchise is known for. It isn’t remembered as a peak, but it’s a solid package that current players can enjoy, provided they temper their expectations.

4. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Released: Nov. 13, 2012

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is still among the most ambitious entries the series has produced. Its multiplayer was superb and gave players far more control over their loadouts. The maps were some of the best around, among them Raid, Hijacked, and Slums, which people happily replayed again and again. Zombies grew bigger too, with the Mob of the Dead and Origins DLC adding maps beyond those on the disc. The campaign branched toward multiple endings, letting players decide who lived and who died while confronting Raul Menendez, one of the most believable villains the franchise has ever had. It even pictured life in 2025, more than a decade beyond the game’s release. All told, it’s a high-water mark for the series, and it’s a small tragedy that newer players don’t know what they’re missing.

3. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

Released: Nov. 4, 2016

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare gave us enormous battles. In space. It had cutting-edge tech and the firefights you know and love, now with zero gravity. In space. It also told a gripping, surprisingly personal story, carried by the voice work of Brian Bloom and Kit Harington. They probably didn’t record those lines in space, even if it sounds that way. On top of all that, certain editions bundled in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, which made a great package even better. For me and plenty of other players, it was the last time a new Call of Duty felt like an unmissable event. Its continued absence from Game Pass is a real letdown.

2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered

Released: Apr. 30, 2020

Say “No Russian” to a Call of Duty player of a certain age and they’ll know exactly what you mean, even if they never played the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The mission that line comes from is among the most unforgettable moments in any first-person shooter. At the time, a warning appeared beforehand to let players know they were heading somewhere very dark. That scene, and the game around it, hit like a punch to the gut in a campaign that pushed further than its predecessor ever dared. The multiplayer swung big as well, with a tactical nuke you could call in after 25 kills without dying, which naturally became everyone’s goal every match. Hollywood legend Hans Zimmer composed the main theme, and the game introduced a co-op mode called Special Ops. Quite simply, it had everything. It’s a real pity that Game Pass lacks such a classic, especially when adding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered would be so easy, letting players revisit the story with polished visuals.

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered

Released: June 27, 2017

With 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward showed that the franchise could thrive well beyond World War 2. Set in the present day, it imagined shocking events that stunned players at every turn. You never knew what was coming, and the twists kept you hooked alongside a squad of heroes who started to feel like family. The multiplayer was just as captivating, mixing tight, GoldenEye-style corridors with more open spaces. Nothing else at the time felt quite like it, and players sank hundreds of hours into deathmatch, learning every tile of every wrecked floor and every brick in every heap of rubble. A decade later, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered revived much of that magic, first in a special edition of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and then as a standalone release the following year. A fresh coat of paint kept the aging game from looking dated on modern displays, making it the best way to play what many consider the finest entry in the series. It absolutely belongs on Game Pass.

Source: Polygon