14 DAY TRIAL // Activision is in the business of making money, and they couldn’t just pass the opportunity of making a ton of money from microtransactions in a $60 (€60) game like Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.
The bane of microtransactions affecting games today was imported from the mobile business. Very few companies that make games for gamers are still active and don’t think of them like just any other money-printing machine. Activision is not one of them. It doesn’t matter that Call of Duty 3: Black Ops 3 is a full price game; they can still get away with microtransactions.
It’s easy-to-spot corporate greed because it’s usually dressed in corporate language. The players' ability to customize their character is called self-expression and it apparently is an important component.
Where’s the catch?
Normally, players could buy stuff from the Black Market by using Cryptokeys and trading them for supply drops. And here is the kicker.
“However, for fans that want to secure additional Supply Drops in multiplayer or Vials of Liquid Divinium in zombies, we’re introducing Call of Duty Points—a new optional virtual currency for players on PS4, Xbox One, and PC,” say the developers on the official blog.
The Call of Duty Points can be used to directly acquire Rare Supply Drops, which consist of new taunts, new sets of bodies and head variants for each Specialist, Epic rarity camo, new Calling cards. The same kind of deals can be made for the zombie mode, for Vials of Liquid Divinium.
Also, players that log in on their PS4, Xbox One, or PC will get a one-time gift of 200 Call of Duty Points, so that they know what they are missing if they don’t throw money at the screen. It’s true that these items can only be obtained by simply playing the game, but it’s going to take a much longer time. Technically, you can finish Candy Crush Saga without paying, but that’s not going to happen.