Call of Duty: Vanguard, the latest installment in Activision's flagship series of first-person shooters, has had a rocky first few months thus far. Complaints of a barebones Zombies mode and reports of record low sales figures have marred the franchise’s most recent outing, and new accusations of recycled DLC content are spurring further controversy.
While many of the game’s blueprints, weapon skins, charms, and operators can be earned through the battle pass, Call of Duty also offers up additional cosmetic packs that have to be bought at a premium. Requiring anywhere between 1000 and 2400 CoD Points to purchase—that’s as much as 24 USD—these bundles grant access to exclusive visual customization options typically not available through any other means.
However, as pointed out by Reddit user u/xtsvx, the Secret Santa Bundle, an aptly-named pack meant to commemorate the holiday seasons, appears to contain content lifted from a previous Call of Duty title. In a post on the r/CODVanguard subreddit, u/xtsvxf provides a side-by-side comparison of the Dasher shotgun blueprint in Call of Duty: Vanguard and the Trench Runner II weapon variant from 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII.
“Secret Santa” bundle is a straight up copy paste of a free ww2 variant now being resold for 15$… Could not believe my eyes when I saw this & realized what it was. from CODVanguard
The cosmetics bundle in question does come with a few extra trinkets, but the primary draw is unquestionably the rare weapon blueprints. Though they are completely optional and don’t necessarily provide any real in-game benefit, fans certainly don’t seem to be pleased with this duplicitous approach to content generation.
The kicker here is that, while it costs 1500 CoD Points in Call of Duty: Vanguard, the original version of the weapon skin could be earned in Call of Duty: WWII for free. Grinding for unlockables like camos and attachments has now become a major part of the Call of Duty multiplayer experience, but those questing to have access to absolutely everything available will now seemingly have to pay their way in place of playing the game as was previously possible.
It’s true that rehashed content has been a part of the Call of Duty series since its formative years, but, while players are largely either willing to embrace the return of legacy maps or iconic weapons—Dome, Sub Pens, and Castle are well-received redskins of older Call of Duty multiplayer maps—this new practice is much less palatable. Gamers are, of course, free to spend as they see fit, but this latest issue may work to damage the reputation of a Call of Duty title that’s already selling at a record-low pace.