With the launch of Call of Duty Season 4, Activision quietly put adverts inside loadouts for Black Ops 6 and Warzone, sparking a backlash in the process.
Activision already has a bad reputation for the aggressive monetization of the premium Black Ops 6 and its free-to-play battle royale Warzone, but this latest move may have tipped some players over the edge.
Following the launch of Season 4, adverts for weapon bundles can be seen in the build and weapon menus. These are unavoidable for players as they tinker with their loadouts.
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Elsewhere, Activision has added bundle and Battle Pass advertisements to the Events tab, another controversial change that has caused complaints.
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Here’s a snippet of the response, sourced from across Call of Duty subreddits, Discords, and social media:
- I wouldn't even be mad if this was just in Warzone, a free game, but putting it in a pay-to-play premium title, with how expensive they're getting? F**k off.
- This game is still 80€ I get that they make most of their money from the store, but I feel like the bare minimum for a premium product would be to not have ads clogging the menus right?
- At this point it really feels like opening up a mobile game with how much more you see an option to buy anything in this game.
- Anyone who wanted this bundle would've checked the store and bought it. Putting it here isn't gonna make more people buy it, its just annoying.
- Just wait until they add pop up ads for bundles while you are playing the game.
Call of Duty has had its monetization crises in the past, of course. Players are used to battle passes, premium battle passes, and even more expensive versions of premium battle passes on top of the $70 (soon to be $80) cost of entry. But there is a growing feeling that the franchise’s microtransaction strategy has become even more aggressive following Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
And it’s worth noting that earlier this month, Activision abandoned Warzone Mobile, the game that was meant to lead the battle royale into a new era, with an admission it had not met expectations.
IGN has asked Activision for comment.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
