Call of Duty accused of charging for 'recycled' MW2 artwork
Players have called out Activision for recycling artwork from MW2 in a MW3 bundle, while also pointing out that the artwork in question was previously free.
23rd Jan 2024 13:05
Images via Activision
Call of Duty accused of charging for 'recycled' MW2 artwork
Players have called out Activision for recycling artwork from MW2 in a MW3 bundle, while also pointing out that the artwork in question was previously free.
23rd Jan 2024 13:05
Images via Activision
Astute Call of Duty fans have noticed that a loading screen cosmetic in the latest Modern Warfare 3 Augmented Human bundle looks quite familiar, as it appears to have been recycled from a free calling card in Modern Warfare 2.
If you've got the money to spare, there's plenty you can spend it on in Call of Duty these days. Whether you want to run around maps as the demonic Lilith from Diablo 4, or want your weapon tracers to have a bit more 'pew-pew' about them, the in-game store is littered with packs and bundles for you to splash your cash.
The Augmented Human bundle is one of the latest to hit the store, featuring an Operator skin, a couple of weapon blueprints, some cosmetic tidbits, and a loading screen. However, eagle-eyed players have noticed that Activision appears to be charging money for something that was essentially free in last year's game.
Reduce, reuse, recycle
The Augmented Human bundle is going for 2,400 CP, which equates to around £17. However, the same artwork was seen on a Calling Card in MW2 which could be earned for free by getting 100 melee kills. This discrepancy has some fans questioning the morality of reusing artwork.
One user reckons that it's content creators who are enabling this sort of behaviour from Activision. "[Activision would] probably put more effort into bundles if people didn't just throw money at them," one user writes.
"Even if all the regular players stopped buying bundles, the content creators buy store bundles like absolute madlads under the excuse of "well I make a living off COD so why not". Yeah and you're ruining COD by telling activision you'll give them your money regardless of how good or bad the games are."
Where do we draw the line?
While some players are clearly disgruntled by this move from the Call of Duty publisher, others seem indifferent, pointing out that this isn't the first time the studio has re-used and resold assets back to its players.
One user even joked, "Wait until you see the rest of mw3," poking fun at the entirety of Modern Warfare 3 essentially being a bit of an asset flip from the franchise's history. After all, all the launch maps were remastered versions of old Modern Warfare maps, and all of the weapons from last year's game are available in this one.
The argument of whether developers should reuse assets from old games has raged for years, and it's not limited to Call of Duty. Blizzard caught flak last year for something similar in Overwatch 2, and even Geurilla Games came under fire when it reused animations in Horizon Forbidden West.
Re-used assets are usually tolerated by players if it means that great games are easier to make. However, re-selling something that was previously free for a much higher price certainly leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
About The Author
Joshua Boyles
Joshua is the Guides Editor at GGRecon. After graduating with a BA (Hons) degree in Broadcast Journalism, he previously wrote for publications such as FragHero and GameByte. You can often find him diving deep into fantasy RPGs such as Skyrim and The Witcher, or tearing it up in Call of Duty and Battlefield. He's also often spotted hiking in the wilderness, usually blasting Arctic Monkeys.
