A new Xbox Game Pass game has been played by over 30 million people, making it one of the most popular games available on the subscription service right now and ever. The game in question is a first-person shooter released in 2021, and given the aforementioned number of players it’s had, many Xbox Game Pass subscribers have probably played it. Those who haven’t can now remedy this free of charge if they have an active Xbox Game Pass Premium, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, or PC Game Pass subscription. In other words, it’s available to all tiers of the subscription service minus Xbox Game Pass Essential.
Alongside recently adding one of the best RPGs of all time, Xbox Game Pass has now added Sledgehammer Games and Activision’s Call of Duty: Vanguard, which should be a permanent addition to the subscription service given that it is an Xbox game. Call of Duty: Vanguard, for those who do not know, is the 18th installment in the mega-popular first-person shooter series, the sixth mainline game set during WW2, and the latest in the series set during WW2. To this end, it remains the Call of Duty of choice for those who prefer the WW2 theater of war. And despite being one of the least popular modern Call of Duty games in terms of reception, it is reported to have sold over 30 million units, though this has never been officially confirmed by Activision, who have noted it was a commercial disappointment at launch by the series’ lofty standards.
Vanguard in 2026
What makes Call of Duty: Vanguard worth playing in 2026 is simply its setting. Unless you want to go back to 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII or something older, it remains the place to play World War II Call of Duty. And this isn’t changing anytime soon, with Call of Duty 2026 and 2027 both expected not to be set in WWII; whether the 2028 installment will bring back this theater of war, probably not. As long as Call of Duty: Warzone is around and relevant, then it’s going to continue to be modern COD games.
In addition to the endless multiplayer, it is worth noting that Call of Duty: Vanguard also has a big-budget single-player campaign that runs about six to nine hours long, on average. And it also has a Zombies mode that was developed by Treyarch.
Call of Duty: Vanguard joins Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Call of Duty: WWII, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 as the full list of COD games available in XGP.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the video game conversations currently going down on the ComicBook Forum.