Ever since Microsoft's industry-shaking decision to acquire Activision was completed as early as 2023, players had imagined a world where such such as Crash Bandicoot, Prototype, Past Spider-Man Titles and the Tony Hawk series could all be on Xbox.
Except during the almost two years since the acquisition was completed, this has not been the case. Sure, we just got a whole new Tony Hawk game this year, but so many franchises continue to remain dormant, even when rumors swirl for a few months about a potential re-license. The actual number of games that remain untouched? You would be surprised.
Maybe one day we get something more than call of duty
As first reported by Jez Corden from Windows Central, a user of social media named Crusader3456 has spent their time putting together a comprehensive list of games like Microsoft Technically owns and can either be released or put on Game Pass but do not have this point, for some reason.
The list, which is here, is extremely exhaustive, and yet, as Corden noted, it still doesn't even include everything. There are titles ranging from the well-received Transformer's Fall of Cybertron to several Call of Duty titles that are backwards compatible but not widely available. Of course, there are other odds and ends, such as James Bond movie titles or old Spyro games.
As Corden noted in its report, the reason is that older cod titles are not as available that “Microsoft is probably aware of the fact that many Call of Duty players would probably migrate to classic Call of Duty titles if they were more accessible.” These classic games have almost zero profitability through microtransactions. Cordon also lists “cannibalization” as a potential reason for other titles.
Either way, it is a pretty remarkable look at how few games are actually available all this time.
