MW3 fans flame 'pay-to-win' Killer skins that offer Double XP to party

For a long time in Call of Duty, Operator skins were strictly cosmetic and only changed your appearance in-game.

However, it was DMZ that pushed Activision to dip its toes into offering a little extra power with a bundle. This usually came in the form of a minor bonus that benefited you and your team when diving into the extraction mode.

While met with widespread criticism, it quickly became the norm, and as it didn't affect multiplayer, the anger seemed to die down.

Well, the devs have finally taken the next step that countless players were dreading, adding a skin to the game that offers bonus XP to your entire party in MW3 if you fulfil the conditions.

MW3 introduces first-ever "Party Bonus Skin" that offers double XP

As showcased by a popular CoD account CharlieINTEL, there's now a skin that can offer you and your party  Double XP.

This comes in the form of the "Killer" skin, which comes with a "Party Skin Bonus" that offers "double XP and double weapon XP when you play together in parties of at least 2 players."

The cosmetic will even offer a "double Battlepass XP bonus in parties of 3 or more," making it almost inefficient to play without someone who has this skin.

As those in the DMZ days warned, it was only a matter of time before these bonuses came to multiplayer, and you have to imagine it's a slippery slope from here. Decisions like this have led players to speculate that we're creeping "ever closer to the end by the day" as trust in Activision continues to sink.

Call of Duty fans slam "pay-to-win" cosmetic that reminds them of DMZ bonuses

Click to enlarge

As expected, the response to these "Party Bonus Skins" has been overwhelmingly negative, with fans slamming the devs for adding blatantly "pay-to-win" cosmetics into the game.

In the eyes of players, the devs just "keep testing what they can get away with," and nothing seems to be halting their pursuit of more and more profit.

"Am I tweaking or does this quite literally translate to pay to win? Faster unlocks - better attachments - pay to win IMO," said one user, with another claiming, "Also this is pay to win... I’m uninstalling after I’ve completed the battle pass, I’ve got no interest in CoD or these subpar pathetic updates."

The backlash to DMZ bonuses didn't stop Activision from releasing more of them, and you have to imagine, it's only a matter of time before multiplayer is taken over by these cosmetics,