Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was revealed last week to a rather mellow reception, although it honestly feels like every single Call of Duty gets that reaction, but then still goes on to sell a bazillion copies. What really stood out, though, was the community’s reaction to the announcement that cosmetics bought in Black Ops 6 would carry over.
Usually, you’d expect an announcement like that to be viewed as a good thing, a consumer-friendly move that lets you move all the cosmetics you bought to a new game. However, Black Ops 6 featured heaps of controversial skins and cosmetics such as Beavis & Butthead and American Dad. Many argued that this was taking away from Call of Duty’s identity, slowly morphing into a visual mess that tried to emulate Fortnite.
Now, Activision has responded to the feedback by walking back the decision to carry cosmetics over.
“We know there’s been a lot of conversation recently about the identity of Call of Duty. Some of you have said we’ve drifted from what made Call of Duty unique in the first place: immersive, intense, visceral and in many ways grounded,” reads the new blog post. “That feedback hits home, and we take it seriously. We hear you.”
“Operators, Operator Skins, and Weapons from Black Ops 6 will no longer carry forward into Black Ops 7,” it continues. “Black Ops 7 needs to feel authentic to Call of Duty and its setting. That is why Black Ops 6 Operator and Weapon content will not carry forward to Black Ops 7. Double XP tokens and GobbleGums will still carry forward, because we recognize your time and progression are important.”
On the surface, this would appear to be good news for anyone that has found Black Ops 6’s cosmetics a little too…bright. However, the cynic in me wonders if this will last past the first few seasons of content, until Activision feels the need to boost its microtransaction revenue again. Because, despite the very vocal protests of fans, there were clearly a lot of people buying the skins, no matter how crazy they got. And with the content not carrying over, Activison can sell you the same stuff all over again.
This year, Black Ops 7 is also facing some strong competition in a renewed, confident Battlefield 6. The beta for Battlefield 6 has created a lot of buzz and people seem to appreciate its more grounded, realistic visual style compared to the insanity of Black Ops 6. The Battlefield series has never managed to beat Call of Duty in terms of copies sold and I don’t think Battlefield 6 will put it off, but even if it only gets close that will be a massive success.