Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare hit stores today's with a lot of positive reviews and impressions from around the web, it’s tight controls and imaginative story are an improvement over last year's installment. The Call of Duty series has always been enjoyable, but even if Infinite Warfare is an especially good improvement or previous games, you shouldn’t pick it up.
While I’ve been an active Call of Duty player since I first fell in love with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare almost 10 years ago, I urge you to to pick up Titanfall 2 this weekend instead of Infinite Warfare. Activision doesn’t deserve your money, their greedy strategies with DLC, microtransactions, and pay walls should discourage everyone from dropping 60 dollars on this game.
These extra ways to squeeze money out of fans shouldn’t be encouraged, especially if the revenue isn’t use to produce more free content. A 50 dollar season pass for additional DLC packages, microtransactions that effectively change the balance of the game, and only releasing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered are ridiculous methods that make the already high price of blockbusters even more expensive.
Like I said, games are expensive enough as is– 60 dollars isn’t chump change for a lot of people. When they choose their next game, it could be the only thing they play for some time. So how can they justify purchasing Infinite Warfare if the season pass, a nice phrase for some DLC maps and guns, is another 50 dollars?
I’m not asking publishers to completely halt in their mission to maximize profits, that would be unreasonable. But there are already ways to use microtransactions in to continue the flow of money after the initial game purchase without changing the balance of the game: loot boxes. Randomize cosmetic customization options that do nothing to change the game while also giving players the option to spend some extra moolah to customize their character.
Overwatch has taken advantages of this cosmetic monetization and it’s worked swimmingly, folks can earn loot boxes by leveling up or they can opt to pay a few bucks to earn some extra skins, voice lines, and stickers. The best part is that it’s all completely optional and it doesn’t effect the game one bit. Although I think that Golden Frog Lucio was going a little faster than normal last night…
Although plenty of people have complained about Overwatch’s use of cosmetics to gain some extra cash, especially after they released special gear that could only be get by special randomized drops for their Olympics event, it’s literally extending the game's lifespan by funding the creation of new characters and extra maps. Anyone who says that this type of microtransaction is only hurting games like Overwatch is completely misguided, especially if they’ve enjoyed playing as the new sniper Ana, or on the new castle clad map Eichenwald.
Titanfall 2 is taking a similar approach to Overwatch, offering cosmetic microtransactions so you can customize your character online. That revenue is going to new content that’s adding to the the games already robust online multiplayer.
Infinite Warfare isn’t a bad game, critical feedback has been beyond fantastic. The team at Infinity Ward always puts out a fun and polished product even though they may not make the biggest changes from previous installments. But the best way to tell publishers that expensive season passes and game altering microtransactions aren’t ok is to not purchase their game.
I understand that the Video Game Industry is just that, an industry. But when profits are casting such a big shadow over quality and quantity of content, you have to ask yourself: when will it end? With so many fantastic shooters out this year including Battlefield 1, Overwatch, Doom, and Titanfall 2, what’s stopping you from investing time into one of these equally as crazy online experiences?
When you’re deciding between this fall's biggest shooters, please consider buying from the developers and publishers who treat their projects games first, and not revenue streams second. The team at Respawn has announced that all their post game content will be free, so new maps, guns and modes will hit Titanfall 2 players without hurting their wallet.
I’d hate to see a game that’s putting players first like Titanfall 2 fall to the wayside as it’s community dwindles, even when developers are committed to extending its lifespan by adding new content post launch. I picked up my personal copy of Titanfall 2 yesterday, if I do pick up Infinite Warfare it’ll be from the bargain bin at my local K-Mart.
