Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has crossed the final hurdle. This means that with the acquisition officially completed, Microsoft now has a vast catalog of games. The bad news is that these games will not be appearing on Game Pass anytime soon.

Xbox head Phil Spencer confirmed the news on the latest episode of the official Xbox podcast, saying that the first Activision Blizzard game will likely not appear on Game Pass until sometime in 2024. Apparently, this is due to the lengthy regulatory process.

"The regulatory process took so long ..... . we were not able to participate in the back catalog work for Activision Blizzard. I was not able to be a part of the back catalog work for Activision Blizzard," Spencer said.

"I'm not sure I'd have been able to do that," Spencer said.

Spencer also referenced a tweet from Activision Blizzard earlier this month, noting that "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3" and "Diablo 4" will not be available on Game Pass until some time next year. This tweet, like Spencer's, was based on the fact that the acquisition would need to be completed before such work could begin.

Spencer acknowledges that people are disappointed with the news and the fact that Activision games will not appear on Game Pass on the first day of the new ownership; there were rumors that this might happen after the acquisition of Bethesda in 2021. Unfortunately, this is not the case this time.

There is now much to enjoy on Game Pass, including Bethesda's space epic Starfield. So there is no shortage of reasons to subscribe to Game Pass. However, "Call of Duty" and other Activision Blizzard games won't be eligible for it for a while.