Call of Duty won't introduce paid LTMs, but its in-game purchases need a fix

Daily Mirror

16-05-2025

Call of Duty had a close call with a leak that indicated a major change for its Battle Passes – and even though it's false, its in-game purchases-forward attitude is still present in the franchise now, and getting worse by the day.
Call of Duty 'leaks' claimed that paywalled LTMs were on the way to the series' next game, and though they have been debunked, the fact that we all believed it at all is telling of the current state of the franchise.
Call of Duty looks to be in a sticky situation right now. As is often the case for this period in the franchise's annual games' life cycle, players are starting to drop away from Black Ops 6 in favour of more interesting things, and it is fighting to rope players back into its gameplay. But Season 3 Reloaded simply isn't cutting it, even with Verdansk keeping Warzone players interested.
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Of course, the new portion of the season is attempting to please the stoners in its crowd, with the arrival of Seth Rogen and a number of other themed skins to keep the smokers in the lobby happy, but after that, there's little else for other players with dull LTMs and minor additions that don't really make the game feel 'reloaded' in any meaningful way. Plus, after the season itself was delayed, it's starting to feel as though the extra time that the team took didn't amount to much.
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This could indicate that the game might have crossed the Rubicon when it comes to collecting new players before the new title, and as we're beginning to see, that may not be particularly far away, as leaks and rumours are beginning to appear for Call of Duty 2025, set to take over Warzone and swipe the main-game baton from Black Ops 6. And one leak, despite the fact that it has now been debunked, indicates that we expect so very little of it.
Call of Duty LTM leaks ended up being false
A leak reared its head concerning the incoming Call of Duty 2025 title, and though it failed to earn any validity, the very fact that so many players believed it is more than enough to determine that something has to change in the franchise. According to reputable Call of Duty leaker TheGhostOfHope on Twitter, some major changes were set to come to the Battle Pass of Call of Duty 2025 (currently rumoured to be another Black Ops game) that would put 'higher value' limited-time modes behind the paywall of the Battle Pass itself.
This new system would add value to the Battle Pass, as crossovers with Premium Event Tracks would come under the Battle Pass and dish out items to players with one payment per season, but it would also lock many LTMs behind the Battle Pass, unlike the current system that allows players to enjoy the smaller modes that come with each event, injecting minor differences to existing gamemodes. This was a pretty shocking twist to be trusted, especially as in many cases, players simply don't engage with LTMs in any major way, tending to play through them once and cast them aside. Thankfully, though, it isn't happening, according to Call of Duty Twitter account CharlieIntel, who added to their own post in a tweet about the change to state that they had been told it was entirely false.
...but we believed it
The biggest issue at hand here is that players have been concerned about the direction of Activision's teams for some time, worried that they were going to chase microtransactions so far down the rabbit hole that they forgot that players were paying AAA prices to access mainline Call of Duty titles in the first place, and this seemed entirely within the remit of the company's current attempts to make an extra buck. These microtransactions add a little more to the company's pockets, but in many ways, they erode the players' trust in the game that it is offering them the best experience after shelling out so much in the first place. This revelation would have proven even further that Call of Duty isn't willing to offer players much if they just want to spend £70 upfront – but the company's track record with LTMs proves that they can be a little thoughtless in design, too.
When the TMNT collaboration came to Black Ops 6 in Season 2 Reloaded, Call of Duty revealed that playing Cowabunga Cranked, the themed LTM for Zombies mode, you would recieve a bonus 50% reduction to damage taken from behind if you wore a paid TMNT Turtle skin for the duration of the game, literally applying a pay-to-win feature to the mode. Though there is little competitive about the mode apart from the chance to earn a (barely) different Calling Card for completing a map's Easter egg, it's still a flagrant misunderstanding of the applications of cosmetic items, and a careless addition to an LTM that proved that extra CoD Point purchases take precedent over developing a balanced, fair mode.
LTMs and in-game purchases already clearly have a rocky relationship, so this suggestion that new modes could become exclusive to those with a Battle Pass is punishingly and depressingly easy to believe. Though this isn't a feature that is likely to appear, it's clear that the game pressuring players to purchase a BlackCell Battle Pass (which, as a bonus, means that players don't even have access to all of the things they want when they buy a standard Battle Pass), sending them plunging through the item shop to unlock free double XP tokens and cramming licensed event passes into the title as often as possible is alienating players.
Perhaps things really were simpler back in the DLC pack days, offering players four new maps and a new Zombies experience for a lump sum. Though it was more money for players to spend, it at least felt more honest than the current system, that seems to make an attempt to coerce players rather than market to them. We might be free of paid LTMs now, but the path that Activision is on implies they could rear their head in the future. It's a bleak implication, but it wouldn't be particularly hard to believe. There are only so many Seth Rogens we can take, but that won't matter, so long as players keep buying them.