Diablo 4 coming to Xbox Game Pass on March 28, the first Blizzard game to join the service

It has been a wild couple of weeks in the world of Xbox, where the heads of the company convened to hold a special 'business update' to ease concerns and rumors that got to the point where some were reporting that Xbox was going third-party and would stop making hardware.

That's not the case, with Xbox reaffirming its hardware position by stating that its next-gen console will present the 'largest technical leap' in console history and that, for now, games like Starfield and the upcoming Indiana Jones title from Machine Games will remain exclusive to Xbox consoles, cloud, and PC. That said, four older and established games will be coming to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, with new releases still coming day and date to Xbox Game Pass.

As part of the presentation with Xbox heads Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty, we did get confirmation of the very first Blizzard game coming to Xbox Game Pass - and that's Diablo IV, which will launch on the subscription service on March 28, 2024.

Microsoft finally completed its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October 2023 after months (or years) of heavy scrutiny and opposition from governments and various agencies. This means franchises like Call of Duty and Warcraft are now a part of Xbox, so it's only a matter of time until we start seeing new releases, legacy, and current Activision Blizzard games make their way to Xbox Game Pass - Microsoft's subscription service for Console, Cloud, and PC.

After the acquisition closes, Xbox did note that it would begin talking about its plans for Activision Blizzard games coming to Xbox Game Pass in early 2024 - however, as of now, we know that Diablo IV is coming. As one of the biggest releases for 2024, with new seasons dropping every three months and a major expansion planned for later this year, Diablo IV is the perfect candidate to bring to Game Pass first. It's worth noting that as of now, it remains to be seen if Diablo 4 on Game Pass includes Cloud Gaming, as part of the acquisition deal going through included Ubisoft taking over cloud gaming publishing rights for all Activision Blizzard games going forward.

As for the rest of the Blizzard catalog, that remains to be seen. Adding World of Warcraft to Game Pass would be a big deal on the PC side. Microsoft and the Xbox team have the opportunity to make these Activision Blizzard 'Game Pass drops' events, so hopefully, it won't be too long until we hear about the next one.