Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Criticised for “Pay-to-Win” on PlayStation
Activision is facing widespread criticism from fans following the announcement of new perks which will be available in the PlayStation versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Notably, this criticism includes accusations that the game is effectively incorporating a pay-to-win-style mechanic which gives PlayStation users a tangible in-game advantage.
Is Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Pay-to-Win on PS4/5?
Activision recently announced a range of exclusive perks which will be available in the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War PlayStation editions. Call of Duty has long had a friendly relationship with Sony, so to some extent, this should come as no surprise. However, this is something of a U-turn for Activision. After all, they toned down the amount of PlayStation-exclusive content in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare compared to previous titles. Like Modern Warfare, Black Ops Cold War will include a PlayStation-exclusive game mode; the Zombies Onslaught mode. However, it will have a whole lot more exclusive features besides that.
Not only will PlayStation players of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War have access to two extra custom class slots, but they will also get extra tier skips. There will even be PlayStation-exclusive double XP events. So far, these elements might irk players on other platforms, but they’re not necessarily too egregious. When it comes to tier skips, for example, PlayStation players who buy the $20 Battle Pass Bundle will get 25 rather than 20 (only a small increase overall). The exclusive double XP events might sound more troublesome, but they will only occur once per month. Moreover, each event will only last for 24 hours. The principal focus of fans’ criticism at present, however, is something else.
As part of this range of perks on PlayStation, Activision will reportedly be implementing something called the PlayStation Party Bonus. This bonus, which is always active, will give players +25% bonus weapon XP whenever they’re in a party. This bonus can apply to players on other platforms, but only while they’re in a party with a PlayStation user via cross-play. As a result, it seems to many that this will give PlayStation users a major in-game advantage. Indeed, fans on social media have accused Activision of adopting a policy of “play-on-PlayStation-to-win”.
Anti-Consumer Criticism and Cross-Play Problems
Indeed, criticism has spread swiftly on social media since news broke of these particular features. Both Activision and Sony have been widely accused of being “anti-consumer”. The PlayStation Party Bonus isn’t technically pay-to-win, since players aren’t buying microtransactions, etc. However, there is a sense that PlayStation users will now have a tangible competitive advantage. After all, they will be able to unlock attachments faster, level weapons up faster, etc., etc. Even PlayStation users have joined the criticism, with some pointing out that the features are likely to make friends with other consoles less likely to want to play with/against them.
This might not be so problematic were console users still kept separate by their respective networks. However, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War features cross-play active by default. PlayStation and Xbox players are fully able to play together in the same ecosystem, along with controller-using PC players. With PlayStation players now getting these advantages, however, it could well encourage Xbox & PC users to disable cross-play manually; defeating the purpose of having it in the first place.
Another factor to consider is the new Black Ops Cold War Prestige system. This new approach to Seasonal content will offer players 1,000 levels in each Season. Thanks to the various benefits now coming to PlayStation, users on the PS4 and PS5 are likely to have an advantage here too. After all, they may well be able to grind less for the same rewards; another aspect which comes troublingly close to pay-to-win, given that Season Passes typically cost a small amount to access.
Is Activision Likely to Do Anything?
It remains to be seen what, if any, action Activision will take in response to this criticism. Unfortunately, the size of the Call of Duty audience being what it is, it’s possible that they will simply ignore it. After all, a majority of the Call of Duty audience are on PlayStation already. While a minority of Xbox, PC, and some PlayStation players will complain, those who only play on PlayStation and with friends on PlayStation, will see few, if any, downsides. For them, the PlayStation Party Bonus will mean less grinding and more rewards.
On one hand, the bad press so close to the game’s upcoming launch could encourage Activision to pivot. This news certainly could discourage Xbox and PC players from buying the game, especially at launch. However, on the other hand, Activision may assume (perhaps rightly) that it’s unlikely to affect sales by any significant margin. After all, many gamers will likely miss this news or simply feel that it’s still worth getting the game regardless. For now, fans will have to wait and see.