Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 players are concerned that Activision may have already added play to win mechanics into the game with the latest update to DMZ.
As reported by GamingIntel, the controversy revolves around a new bundle available in DMZ, called the Bomb Squad Operator bundle.
This bundle includes an EOD specialist with a Fender skin. This skin comes with a free medium backpack, a free weapon, and a fourth active duty slot. The weapon is called Boom Proof, and it has a reduced Insured Weapon Cooldown timer.
To understand why these items are considered Pay To Win, it needs to be explained how DMZ works and what qualities these items have that trump those rules for DMZ.
First, about the Boom Proof weapon. It is an Insured weapon, the hardest type of weapon to earn in Call of Duty Warzone 2.0. They are called Insured because you get to carry them around with you anywhere you go, and you keep them even if you drop them or lose in DMZ.
Insured Weapons are so special Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 enables you get an extra slot only for that weapon.
But, it goes even further. For regular Insured Weapons, if you fail to get out of DMZ properly, you incur a penalty even on your Insured Weapons. There will be a cooldown phase of 60 minutes or so before you can equip it again.
However, for Boom Proof, you will only have to wait 15 minutes before you can start using it again.
Now, about the medium backpack. If you have an extra backpack enabled, you will have extra storage for items. That can mean more keys, and keys are the way that you get more loot in DMZ. To cut to the chase, the medium backpack allows players to get more loot than everyone else.
Finally, about the Active Duty Slots. These do not refer to weapon slots, but are instead for the different operators that you can use in DMZ.
For regular players, they can have as many as three Active Duty Slots. That translates to three operator skins that they can use, and customize, while playing DMZ. If an operator fails to extract, you can use one of the others instead. The fourth Active Duty Slot translates to one more extra operator than other players have.
Now, some players argue the effect of these advantages is somewhat minor. You can have all these items but if you’re playing against top level competition, you won’t feel that you got an ace over them.
However, if you happen to be a really good player, this will allow you to increase your lead in terms of bonuses, loot, score, etc compared to other players.
At this point anyway, all this talk is speculative. The bigger worry is if these bundles continue to be a success for Activision, they will keep selling more, and that will eventually change the meta of Call of Duty Warzone 2.0.
I’m sure the developers themselves are well aware of the hazards this could bring to the meta. It remains to be seen if they can defend this game’s longevity, or will have to follow through with even more monetization knowing what’s to come.
