"Diablo IV" will arrive on Xbox Game Pass on March 28, Microsoft announced this week This will be the first Activision Blizzard game to appear on the Xbox game delivery service since Microsoft's $687 billion acquisition last October

On an official Xbox podcast earlier this week, Xbox executives Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty revealed the company's "vision for the future" The announcement was a public relations stunt to build excitement about Xbox's hardware plans, as well as damage control to allay concerns over the reported possibility of several high-profile Xbox Series X titles appearing on rival consoles like the Nintendo Switch and PS5

To that end, the company confirmed that four unnamed Xbox exclusives will indeed be released on other platforms, but not the previously rumored "Starfield" or the new "Indiana Jones" title in development A "next generation" Xbox console is also in the works, with an "exciting" hardware announcement scheduled for this holiday season

Bringing Diablo 4 to Xbox Game Pass is a smart move on Xbox's part The latest installment in Activision Blizzard's legendary dungeon-exploration action RPG series was one of last year's biggest hits, launching on Blizzard's own Battlenet store in June and then on Steam in October It also continues to attract hundreds of thousands of players every day with seasonal updates By offering it on Game Pass, the company will open up its player base to the service's 34 million subscribers

"This is just the beginning of Xbox players being able to enjoy Activision and Blizzard games on Game Pass

In October, shortly after the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, said that fans would have to wait at least until the game makers' big series like Call of Duty appeared on Xbox Game Pass He stated that they would have to wait until 2024 The fact that "Diablo IV" will appear on Xbox Game Pass early in the new year is a good sign that "Call of Duty" and other titles will be coming to Xbox Game Pass not too long after that