Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the follow-up to the highly-popular Modern Warfare reboot from 2019. The latest release offers new additions like the revamped Warzone 2.0 and Infinity Ward’s extraction shooter-inspired mode with DMZ.
The latter was among the most anticipated additions to Call of Duty, but it did not succeed as Activision and Infinity Ward had hoped. However, DMZ has still offered a nice change of pace compared to other Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 modes and has its own dedicated player base.
Much to everyone’s disappointment, Activision appears to have introduced pay-to-win bundles to DMZ, despite DMZ’s premise as a competitive mode.
Season 3 introduced pay-2-win Bundles that gives you advantages in DMZ like Backpacks, UAV's, Armor Jackets, Insured Weapon reloaded in 15 mins, operator slots and more…
This is not fair, where are the advantages for the full game owners?? #MWII pic.twitter.com/gWwYydFEqr— 𝗡𝗛' -Hotel Six- 🧼🥇 (@ModenasHD) April 12, 2023
Microtransactions have existed in Call of Duty for a long time, but recent releases have taken a cosmetic approach to the model. Following Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in 2019, Activision limited microtransactions to cosmetic bundles.
However, the latest additions to DMZ allow players to spawn in with items like a medium backpack. This allows players with the bundles to start with an advantage through more storage for loot in the early parts of the game.
Other recent additions allow advantages like a significant reduction to insured weapon cooldown periods. These weapons are powerful and equipped with attachments to the players’ liking. As such, they have a 60-minute cooldown when players fail to extract.
However, the new bundle allows players to reduce this cooldown to just 15 minutes. Another bundle adds an extra active duty slot. This will enable players to use an extra operator in case the others fail to extract.
As is the usual case with such microtransactions, Activision has made sure to keep the benefits minimal for now. However, there is no guarantee that Activision will keep the benefits limited, and recent leaks are already concerning DMZ fans.
Datamines have shown that players will be able to spawn in with powerful abilities like UAVs and self-revives at the beginning of a game, with skins set to be released soon. This will further add to the disappointment surrounding DMZ’s latest additions.
This is not the first time Call of Duty has been criticized for microtransactions. Previous games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 featured weapons that could only be obtained through the game’s loot box system.
These weapons were considerably strong, and the random nature of loot boxes meant that many players were not able to obtain them. However, the franchise abandoned this model in 2019.
Activision appears to be experimenting with similar microtransactions again, gradually introducing them in the less popular modes. It remains to be seen if the developer intends to implement similar benefits in other game modes like battle royale and multiplayer, but fans are less than thrilled about the advantages in DMZ.
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[News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than three years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
