The latest update for Black Ops 4 does quite a bit to mend some fences for Treyarch’s latest offering, after some controversial changes threatened to fracture the community.
The introduction of Barebones, as well as a host of fixes and tweaks, will go a long way to making Black Ops 4 that little bit more appealing.
However, the latest microtransaction being added to the fold has been met with some harsh reception from the Call of Duty fanbase, seemingly undoing a lot of the work the latest patch did to improve the game’s relationship with players.
Treyarch unveiled the “Triple Play” bundle during its live stream earlier this week. Available to PS4 gamers first, it includes the Home Wrecker melee weapon, 10 tiers, 10 Reserve Cases, and a Weapon Crate.
But it’s not so much what comes included in the bundle, but rather how much it costs: Triple Play will set you back 2800 CoD Points, or about $28.
That’s US dollars, too: given the game isn’t even on sale yet, that means a bundle with a weapon and some cases comes in at about 50% the price of the full game.
To make matters, worse, the Home Wrecker is really only a cosmetic addition: there’s no actual offensive advantage to having access to the weapon. As for the cases and tiers, well, chances are you won’t get much out of them, either.
I remember when the very first DLC map pack was announced for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Players were up in arms about having to pay $20 for some new maps. That’s been a consistent theme through the Call of Duty franchise for the better part of a decade, however this latest offering takes the cake as the biggest money grabber.
We probably shouldn’t be surprised: given games like Fortnite and Overwatch generate revenue almost exclusively from cosmetic items, that Call of Duty has so aggressively gone down this path should come as no surprise.
It’s a huge shame that something like this can tarnish what appears to be a game trying to make amends.
Treyarch has outlined a number of key changes and additions to the Black Ops 4 roster of modes, including some key changes to Blackout, Black Ops 4‘s Battle Royale mode, in yesterday’s update.
The likes of Anchient Evil and Barebones, as well as Infected to come down the track, stood as welcomed additions to a game that was starting to feel stale.
Unfortunately, this latest microtransaction blunder has really overshadowed what was otherwise a positive week for Black Ops 4 and Treyarch.
What are your thoughts? Sound off in the comments below!
