Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's microtransactions are even worse than gamers originally thought. Not only is the game beginning to move away from single player narratives, it's designed to heavily favor gamers who are willing to buy their cosmetic rewards rather than play for them.
With a renewed focus on its multiplayer experience, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was met with high praise at launch. However, though gamers applauded its various in-game mechanics and play, microtransactions are proving to create an uneven playing field in which players are expected to spend actual money in order to potentially reap every benefit from the game. This was especially brought to light when a YouTuber shared his experience with the game online, not only detailing how much he spent, but how little his money ended up being worth.
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YouTuber and gamer MatMicMar shared his experience with Black Ops 4 on his personal Twitter account, revealing that he spent money out of his own pocket, only to feel cheated by the results. He spent $1,000 USD - the maximum amount that someone can spend on the in-game currency of Black Ops 4 - in an attempt to unlock everything available within the game. Unfortunately, the results were disappointing. After unlocking everything that was available to him - including stickers, calling cards, and emotes, as well as various cosmetic upgrades - he only walked away with a single weapon variant.
The only other additional "bonus" MatMicMar received for spending $1000 was a pop-up message acknowledging how much he had spent. Otherwise, the takeaway was exceptionally limited. Microtransactions, in general, have been the center of heated debates, and Black Ops 4 is hardly the first example of this feature earning harsh criticisms. Star Wars: Battlefront II famously came under fire when it was discovered that gamers would only be allowed access to popular characters if they either played up to 5,000 hours or spent over $2,000.
On one hand, the microtransaction issues in Black Ops 4 are aren't nearly as bad as some other games given that the in-game purchases are purely cosmetic and no players are able to pay to win. That said, this new feature has changed the future of gaming, and not necessarily for the better. With video game publishers profiting so heavily off of microtransactions, it's unlikely that this new approach is going away any time soon. In fact, this could just be the beginning of something even more frustrating - and more expensive.
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