X
CNET logo Why You Can Trust CNET

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

Play Call of Duty Now on Xbox Cloud Gaming With Game Pass Ultimate

Subscribers can play these Call of Duty games without a console now.

Headshot of Zachary McAuliffe
Headshot of Zachary McAuliffe
Zachary McAuliffe Staff writer
Zach began writing for CNET in November, 2021 after writing for a broadcast news station in his hometown, Cincinnati, for five years. You can usually find him reading and drinking coffee or watching a TV series with his wife and their dog.
Expertise Web hosting | Operating systems | Applications | Software Credentials
  • Apple software beta tester, "Helps make our computers and phones work!" - Zach's grandparents
Zachary McAuliffe
2 min read
Promo image for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Activision/Screenshot by CNET

You don't need a gaming console to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Microsoft launched the latest Call of Duty game, as Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone, on Xbox Cloud Gaming Friday. Black Ops 6 has also launched and landed on Game Pass Ultimate. 

"This opens up even more ways to playBlack Ops 6 starting on day one at launch," Ashley McKissick, corporate vice president of gaming experiences and platforms for Xbox, said online on Oct. 14.

Xbox Cloud Gaming is a feature included in a Game Pass Ultimate subscription -- which costs $20 a month. The feature is still in beta, but it allows subscribers to access and play certain games from the Game Pass library on other devices without an Xbox console. 

"Game Pass Ultimate members will be able to enjoy Call of Duty in more places than ever before, including on their consoles, PCs, mobile devices, select Samsung TV, Amazon Fire TV and Meta Quest devices," McKissick said.

To play Xbox games on these devices, you'll need a Game Pass Ultimate subscription and in many cases a compatible Bluetooth-enabled wireless controller. 

This comes a few months after Microsoft announced it was bringing Game Pass to Amazon Fire TV devices. McKissick said at the time that Microsoft has been working for several years to bring cloud gaming to more devices and players everywhere.

Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard, the studio behind the popular shooter franchise, in 2023. As part of the acquisition, Microsoft promised not to restrict Activision Blizzard games to Xbox consoles. At the time this ensured games like Call of Duty would still be on PlayStation consoles. Some, like CNET's Corinne Reichert, hoped it meant games like Starcraft 2 would come to systems like the Nintendo Switch. Now it seems Microsoft also meant it wouldn't limit those games to only consoles.

For more on Game Pass, you can read CNET's Game Pass Ultimate review and our advice on which tier is right for you. You can also check out what to know about Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. 

Watch this: Microsoft's Discless Xbox Series X Revealed