There’s something fishy going on with the new COD

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is coming soon, and it looks like it could be a whole lot of fun. Early next month, you’ll be able to go out to a store and pick up the latest Call of Duty, play the single player for a bit, and then forget that part of the game exists and wreck n00bs online.

Of course, with the proliferation of digital distribution, you may be inclined to pick the game up digitally, pre-ordering the game so that it’s ready and loaded and able to play as soon as the clock strikes midnight, And that’s a viable thing to do, unless you’re playing on Xbox One.

IXCM noticed that Activision had pulled the digital pre orders for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 on the Xbox One, leaving notice that to get the game, players are invited to pre-order from their local retailers. Until just a few days ago, players were able to pre-order Black Ops 3 through the Xbox Marketplace or digitally, through Amazon. That’s no longer the case. Kotaku’s Patrick Klepek did some digging, and it seems that nobody knows, or is willing to divulge why.

Asking both Microsoft and Activision why the digital pre-orders have been withdrawn, he’s been given the PR runaround.

Said Microsoft:

“We are actively engaged with Activision to return ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops III’ to the Xbox Store as soon as possible. In the meantime, fans can pre-order ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops III’ for Xbox One or Xbox 360 from any of a host of retail partners here.”

You’d imagine Activision’s statement on the matter might clarify – but you’d be wrong.

“Activision did not remove the digital version of Call of Duty: Black Ops III from the Xbox Games Store. Black Ops III is ready for launch on November 6th and is the most anticipated game of the year. Black Ops III is available for pre-order or pre-purchase through our other retail partners worldwide.”

Taking that information back to Microsoft yielded similar, infuriatingly circumloquacious results.

“We do not comment on the specific terms of our arrangements with any of our publishing partners, however we are actively engaged with Activision to return ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops III’ to the Xbox Store. In the meantime, fans can pre-order ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops III’ for Xbox One or Xbox 360 from any of a host of retail partners here.”

Is it a glitch? Is there a technical issue of some sort – or could it somehow be tied to the fact that Sony and its PlayStation 4 are now the publishing partners and preferred platform for Call of Duty? Whatever the reason, nobody’s talking.

Last Updated: October 8, 2015