Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has twelve months of exclusive content specifically for PlayStation players, and this has irked fans to no end.
Announced yesterday by Activision and Sony, the gathering of goodies is very expansive. Those playing on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 get two extra create a class slots, extra tier skips, extra weapon experience point gain and exclusive double experience point events. The Battle Pass Bundle Bonus for this portion of players also comes with tier skips, bringing the total number of tier skips for PlayStation players to 25. Not insignificant, if you ask me.
Furthermore, the PlayStation Party Bonus garners a 25 per cent weapon experience point gain for PlayStation players who team up in parties. This bonus still applies to those players exclusively even if the group is composed of players on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S as well as PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
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Exclusive monthly double experience point events will also be held for only PlayStation players, and when these players reach level four in Create-a-Class, two extra loadout slots are unlocked. All of the above is exclusive to the platform until November 1st, 2021, on top of the Zombie Onslaught mode.
There's no denying that PlayStation players have lucked out when it comes to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, as they also got access to the closed alpha and were the first to play the open beta. The relationship between Activision and Sony is not a new one, as the Modern Warfare reboot made the Spec Ops mode exclusive to the platform, and this decision was similarly derided. However, now, fans are putting their foot down and sounding off about how Black Ops Cold War is acting like a "Play on PlayStation to win game."
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"Last year, an exclusive game mode was lame enough, but it was not game-changing," said Reddit user BenjaminWareing. "Now granting two extra create a class slots ONLY for PlayStation players, AND extra tier skips, AND extra weapon XP, AND EXCLUSIVE Double XP events - ALL ONLY FOR PLAYSTATION is crossing the line. There is no trade-off, cross-play is a granted, it's just anti-consumer at this point and if it was a consequence of PlayStation's exclusivity deal with Activision, they should bow their heads in shame. This is gross and is another stepping stone along the way towards complete player base disenfranchising."
The issue lies in the quicker progression opportunities that are only open to PlayStation players. As a result, these people may access higher-tier weapons before those on other platforms even if they sink the same number of hours playing the game. That's inherently unfair: succinctly stated by Twitter user ChicIsCoolio, the game seems like it's a "Play on PlayStation to win game." Activision and Sony are yet to comment on the criticism levelled at the two companies, but we'll update you if that happens.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War comes to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on November 13th.Featured Image Credit: ActivisionTopics: Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, News, Activision