Call of Duty fans are growing more vocal in their criticism as Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's Sony Advantage is announced. Fans have long criticized Activision and Sony for heavily pushing PlayStation targeted content. As Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War continues to allow cross-generational crossplay, the idea of platform exclusivity is considered counter-intuitive by many fans.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War PlayStation 4 and 5 players will be receiving additional class slots, tier skips, weapon XP, and Double XP events along with timed-limited game modes. These extra perks are part of a unique partnership between Activision and Sony that has been dubbed the "Sony Advantage."
While some of the benefits are larger than others, many players are saying that the exclusive content borders on excessive. When Call of Duty: Modern Warfare launched, the developers offered a PlayStation exclusive game mode for a year. While the community did not like the exclusivity, it considered it a small price to pay for cross-platform access and other game features. Then, Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare started offering PlayStation exclusive bundles and cosmetic rewards. Due to the fact that they were for the most part simply cosmetic, many players simply let the campaign go. Now PlayStation players are receiving much more than just cosmetics and game modes as some bonuses grant an inherent in-game advantage. For many fans, this load of content is crossing the line.
While the PlayStation community is happy for the Call of Duty advantage, PC and Xbox fans have a much different outlook. Some players see the free tier skips as proof that Activision considers Xbox and PC money less valuable, and the weapon XP gives PlayStation users an unfair advantage in the game itself.
Fans are calling the entire deal "anti-consumer," pointing out that it is dividing the playerbase and disenfranchising its community. By showing favoritism to the PlayStation community, Activision is devaluing Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War for Xbox and PC fans.
Giving PlayStation the ability to unlock gameplay-impacting items early due to increased XP is arguably game-breaking. Many players even go as far as to say that the Sony Advantage is the first sign of pay-to-win dynamics in a massive title. As one Reddit fan very clearly states: "This has gone beyond console exclusivity, this is console advantage." In an era of gaming that strives for equality, crossplay capabilities, and platform transparency this is one massive step in the wrong direction for Activision.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is set to launch on November 13th for PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, and Xbox Series X fans.
Source: Eurogamer