With all signs pointing to an imminent successful end for Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition saga, Activision has moved to address the issue of its titles appearing on Game Pass, saying not to expect that to happen until next year if the deal goes through.

To date, Activision titles have been notably absent from Game Pass, but the assumption has been that would change if Microsoft's $69bn bid for the Call of Duty publisher succeeded. And with the deal now anticipated to be finalised this week, assuming the UK's Competition and Markets Authority gives it the green light as is generally expected, questions around an Activision presence on Game Pass have shifted from 'if' to 'when'.

And the company has now addressed fan queries on social media, writing, "As we continue to work toward regulatory approval of the Microsoft deal, we've been getting some questions whether our upcoming and recently launched games will be available via Game Pass."

"While we do not have plans to put Modern Warfare 3 or Diablo 4 into Game Pass this year," it continued, "once the deal closes, we expect to start working with Xbox to bring our titles to more players around the world. And we anticipate that we would begin adding games into Game Pass sometime in the course of next year."

In order to get its Activision Blizzard acquisition over the finish line, Microsoft has agreed to sell the streaming rights for Activision's titles to Ubisoft in the UK. That's after the CMA moved to block the deal in April, highlighting concerns relating to the burgeoning cloud gaming sector and arguing the acquisition would risk "stifling competition in this growing market".