Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is coming to Xbox Game Pass on September 8, Microsoft has officially confirmed. The 2020 Call of Duty entry will be available across cloud, console and PC through Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass as part of Xbox’s first wave of September 2026 additions.
Microsoft confirmed the addition in its official September Wave 1 Game Pass announcement, which also includes SpeedRunners 2: King of Speed, Dice a Million, The Royal Writ, Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage and RuneScape: Dragonwilds. Black Ops Cold War is the biggest established franchise release in the batch and arrives midway through the first half of the month.
Developed by Treyarch and Raven Software, Black Ops Cold War originally launched in November 2020 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The game is set during the early 1980s and follows a covert operation built around the pursuit of the Soviet spy known as Perseus. Its campaign features locations including East Berlin, Vietnam, Turkey and the Soviet KGB headquarters, alongside appearances from historical figures and returning Black Ops characters.
The Game Pass version also gives subscribers access to the game’s multiplayer component and Zombies mode. Black Ops Cold War introduced several multiplayer modes and continued Treyarch’s Zombies storyline with a new progression structure, while its campaign allowed players to make some decisions that could influence how parts of the story unfolded. Those modes helped make it one of the more substantial older Call of Duty releases that Microsoft could add to its subscription catalog.
Its arrival is notable because Microsoft has been steadily expanding the number of Activision Blizzard titles available through Game Pass following its acquisition of the publisher. Call of Duty games have gradually become a more prominent part of the service, particularly as Microsoft integrates older entries alongside newer releases. Adding Black Ops Cold War gives subscribers another full premium Call of Duty title rather than a limited trial or multiplayer-only offering.
The September 8 release will support cloud gaming in addition to console and PC access. That means Ultimate subscribers will be able to stream the game on supported devices without installing it locally, while console and PC users can access the native versions available through their respective Game Pass tiers. Microsoft has not announced any special edition content or additional bonuses tied specifically to the Game Pass release.
Black Ops Cold War joins a busy first half of September for the subscription service. SpeedRunners 2 arrives on September 3, followed by Dice a Million on September 4, while The Royal Writ and Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage are scheduled for September 10. RuneScape: Dragonwilds then joins the service on September 15 across cloud, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
The same September update also confirms that several games are leaving Game Pass on September 15, including Cyberpunk 2077, Dead Cells, Frostpunk 2, Spiritfarer and Superliminal. As usual, subscribers have until those departures to play the affected titles through the service or purchase them separately if they want to retain access.
For Call of Duty players, however, September 8 adds another major back-catalog entry to Game Pass with access across all three of Microsoft’s main gaming platforms. With Black Ops Cold War joining Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass, Microsoft continues to broaden the Call of Duty library available through its subscription ecosystem.
