Update: ComicBook has been informed that the information in this story is not correct. There are currently no plans for any kind of premium limited time game modes. The original story follows below.
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Call of Duty will reportedly make a controversial change to its battle pass system later this year. Big online games like Call of Duty have evolved a lot since they entered the scene 20 years ago. It used to be that you’d get a game and then you could expect roughly a year’s worth of DLC after the fact, costing abut $15 – $20 a piece. This could include new maps, weapons, and other in-game content to keep you not only returning to the game, but spending money. All in all, a player could dump $140 into a big online game before the next one released. However, things have changed dramatically.
Now games like Call of Duty are updated regularly for free, giving players new maps, weapons, and more at no extra cost. The money is now in skins and battle passes, a system that rewards players for playing and completing in-game tasks/challenges. This system was popularized by Fortnite and allows players to earn XP, extra skins, and more just from playing the game. Not only does it generate money, but it also forces the player to invest a lot more hours than they otherwise would through typical map packs. Call of Duty has taken advantage of the battle pass system in a big way and even offered additional premium passes for key events, such the current High Art pass which gives players a Seth Rogen skin in Call of Duty.
These things are the life blood of Call of Duty these days, for better or worse, but a new rumor may make some controversial changes to how the battle pass operates. Over the last couple of years, Call of Duty has been doing limited-time modes, LTMs for short, which add fun and whacky new modes to the game. One of the most prominent examples of this was the Squid Game mode that was in Call of Duty earlier this year. They spice the game up and always add other new content to the game with premium passes. Sadly, all of this content may get paywalled later this year.
According to reliable Call of Duty leaker TheGhostofHope, Activision will be doing even more LTMs in the heavily rumored Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 releasing later this year, but they will only be playable if you own the battle pass. As a result, some of the content will be “higher value” with more unique rewards and game mechanics in these limited-time modes. However, this will likely frustrate a lot of people who have come to enjoy all Call of Duty content for free up to this point.
For years, Call of Duty has benefited from making it so that the only things players pay for are things like cosmetic items. However, something like this would be paywalling playable content. Not only that, but paywalling limited-time content. Even though you’re technically paying for the battle pass and not the mode itself, it’s still frustrating to think that is kind of content will just vanish after a few weeks. Of course, fans have been pretty upset since hearing this news and are actively pushing back on it. There’s always a chance that Activision will listen to the fans and change this, but there’s no guarantee. It’s also a rumor, so there’s a chance this isn’t true at all, but Ghost of Hope is generally a pretty reliable person when it comes to Call of Duty leaks.
What do you think about this Call of Duty battle pass change? Let me know in the comments.
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