When Call of Duty: WW2 releases later this month it will feature loot boxes called supply drops. But unlike other games with loot boxes such as Forza Motorsport 7 and Star Wars Battlefront 2, in the forthcoming Call of Duty loot boxes can be opened in public in front other players.

Footage of the game's public loot box openings has now leaked, showing exactly how the new mechanic works. In the video below, a player in the game's Headquarters section looks for an appropriate spot to call in the supply drop. After finding a clear patch, the player calls the loot box in and watches it land with a thud in the middle of the social space. Three cards pop up and then flip over, revealing the collectible goodies inside.

Unsurprisingly, Call of Duty: WW2's public loot box openings have been met with some backlash from fans. Although supply drops are strictly cosmetic and avoid being pay to win, fans say this has been done to get others to pay more for loot boxes. Watching someone open a loot box and get some high-value cards will influence and encourage others into paying for loot boxes themselves.

In fact, Call of Duty: WW2 explicitly rewards players for standing around and watching each other open loot boxes in Headquarters. According to interviews that Sledgehammer did in August, doing so will increase a player's social score which will, in turn, lead to a higher chance of getting better loot box contents. All of the players who participate in the loot box opening viewing will be rewarded too.

On the other hand, this could backfire for Activision and Sledgehammer. If the loot box rates aren't very good then watching someone get terrible pulls may actually discourage them from buying loot boxes themselves. Given that Call of Duty: WW2 is aiming to be somewhat historically accurate, some may also find it a little odd that soldiers are calling in loot boxes to base.

At this point, it's unclear how much the public loot box openings will benefit Activision and Sledgehammer's bottom line. But this new system for supply drops can be seen as just one way that Activision is trying to shake things up and encourage players across its games to spend more on microtransactions.

The company has filed multiple patents on the issue, including a matchmaking microtransaction patent and another one that makes it easier to buy skins and weapons while watching gameplay clips. It will be interesting to see how many of these ideas (including public loot box openings) make it into other Activision published games too.

Call of Duty: WW2 will be released on November 3, 2017 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source(s): Reddit, CharlieIntel