Black Ops 3 Digital Download removed from the Xbox One store – UPDATE

UPDATE: Kotaku reached out to Microsoft and got a statement stating that Microsoft is working with Activision to re-instate preorders for Black Ops 3 digitally on Xbox One. They are currently encouraging fans to preorder at retailers for now.

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.

Original Story:
Call of Duty Black Ops 3 is no longer available on the Xbox One Store for digital pre-order. In a strange turn of events, it appears the preorder listing disappeared shortly after pre-loading started on Xbox One. We reached out to Activision for clarification and got this response:

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.

According to Activision, they did not remove the digital versions of the game from the Xbox One store (which leads us to believe it was Microsoft), and they are asking fans to preorder the title at other retail partners worldwide.

In addition, we’re getting reports that select U.K. retailers have taken down preorders for digital codes of Black Ops 3 for Xbox One. GAME UK and Amazon UK no longer selling digital codes for Xbox One Season Pass of Black Ops 3 or the digital game. Activision has not stated anything regarding this for now.

We’ll update as we learn more regarding this issue.