It would seem that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's batch of all-new Season 3 content includes a number of pay-to-win bundles for DMZ players. While there are many different opinions on whether COD's storefront is good for the franchise, with its wealth of immersion-breaking cosmetics, the recent titles haven't had a truly pay-to-win purchasing option so far.Most players will recall that 2019's Modern Warfare had some skins with visibility problems, which inadvertently led to players who used them being harder to spot in dark locations. Aside from select instances of this being an issue, true pay-to-win hadn't really been a concern up until now, as the games' store bundles were mainly centered around cosmetic options, rather than game-changing mechanics.Now, however, it appears that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 may have stepped into full-fledged pay-to-win territory with some of its new Season 3 store bundles. While the dust is yet to settle on the matter, players have discovered that the Bomb Squad Operator bundle includes an Operator skin that starts each DMZ match with a free Medium Backpack, allowing the player to easily gather more loot early in a given match. Moreover, the featured weapon skin comes with a substantial reduction to its insurance cooldown, from 60 to a mere 15 minutes, meaning it can be taken into DMZ matches far more often than a regular piece of kit.
Moreover, dataminers have discovered that even more egregious starting advantages will make their way into the game soon enough. Specifically, some of the future Modern Warfare 2 Season 3 store bundles will include Operator skins that begin DMZ matches with UAVs, armor vests, revive kits, and an assortment of other important equipment. These aren't one-time-use boons, either, as the featured Operators will be able to start any given DMZ match with all of them active immediately.
As Modern Warfare 2 continues to surge in popularity, Activision's decision to introduce pay-to-win elements to DMZ has the potential to become a big problem in a short time. Quite simply, paying players will have an early match advantage over anybody who's not actively buying store bundles, setting a dangerous precedent for the future of the game.
Though the featured P2W boons are currently limited only to DMZ matches, there's no telling whether they'll get pushed into Warzone and Multiplayer matches, too. Moreover, players aren't happy with how long it takes to unlock anything in Modern Warfare 2's Battle Passes either. These problems, when combined, suggest that Call of Duty's monetization may be reaching a critical junction in Modern Warfare 2.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.