The Call of Duty franchise has a long history of locking content behind paywalls, whether it be map packs or platform-exclusive content. The new era of Call of Duty is supposed to move beyond that, according to Activision. Yet once again Call of Duty players are decrying perceived paywalls, even going so far as calling a recent change in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone pay-to-win.
The current inflammatory situation in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone is due to a recent balance update. The update shifted the power balance towards two specific weapons that players find problematic. The weapons being the Bruen Mk9 and the Grau 5.56. These weapons have specific requirements players need to achieve before either can be unlocked. These requirements, it turns out, are significantly easier to accomplish in Modern Warfare' multiplayer as opposed to the free-to-play Warzone.
In both Modern Warfare and Warzone, to unlock the Bruen Mk9 players have to get 3 LMG kills near smoke not once, but 15 times. Smokes are not only rarely used in Warzone, but getting three kills in the same general area is all the rarer. Accomplishing this task 15 times would be incredibly rare. The Grau 5.56 is also unlocked in a challenging fashion, requiring players get 5 kills in a minute not once, but 25 times. An easier task than the Bruen's, for sure, but getting 5 kills in a minute would prove a challenge even for top-level Call of Duty players.
The problem is readily apparent. If the top weapons in Warzone are incredibly challenging to get, but can be acquired with comparative ease in Modern Warfare, then it's effectively restricting powerful weapons behind the paywall of purchasing Modern Warfare. This is what's frustrating Call of Duty players right now.
There are certain caveats to the players' frustrations, of course. After all, Infinity Ward could re-balance weapons within the week and weapons that are much easier to unlock could then be powerful instead. Infinity Ward could also redo the requirements for these weapons to be more Warzone friendly. There are relatively easy solutions for the Call of Duty developers to move forward on.
But a deeper issue has been discovered, here. Fans are very likely to ask, "Is this a fair system?" going forward regardless of the genuine impact it has on the game. A system that enables premium players to unlock weapons that free players don't have access to is problematic. And, unfortunately, there's no real way to rebuild that system with ease. It may just be something Call of Duty players have to live with, pay-to-win or not.
Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare are available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.