Warzone 2.0's overpowered new DMZ bundle ignites pay-to-win fears

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0’s overpowered new DMZ bundle ignites pay-to-win fears

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 has struggled to retain players due to odd gameplay decisions and controversial mechanics that have divided the community. A new feature, though, has players especially up in arms.

Recently, publisher Activision released an in-game store bundle that some players consider a “pay-to-win” option, stirring up criticism once again. The paid bundle, “Roze and Thorn,” gives DMZ players a free unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that temporarily reveals the locations of enemy players at the start of a match, immediately offering an advantage.

It’s easy to see what has fans miffed. The overpowered bundle gives players an advantage right at the start of a DMZ match. If a team of DMZ players all have this Operator equipped, they can coordinate to have three back-to-back UAVs running right at the start of the match, which can be devastating.

DMZ is Call of Duty‘s extraction mode, which requires players to earn loot and escape the map before the timer counts down. The map is filled with real players and AI bots, so there are plenty of ways to get eliminated early. Dying causes you to lose all the items you’ve earned, so the appearance of an early UAV can make or break a match for certain players.

Activision has done a decent job of addressing a large portion of criticisms from the community (although sometimes it takes a long time for it to issue fixes). However, since the pay-to-win store bundle is something players have spent money on, it’s unlikely we’ll see changes to it, so as to not upset players who purchased the bundle.

As part of Season 3, UAVs in DMZ were slightly nerfed, requiring players to wait a minute before utilizing UAVs. Though this is a step in the right direction, it still doesn’t do much overall, as players will still be able to spam their UAVs right after the one-minute countdown has elapsed.

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