Call of Duty matchmaking system may push microtransactions on players
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Call of Duty is one of the largest franchises in the world, and Activision has used some of the best marketing strategies through its games to gain sales. Almost every game in the series is pushing close to the price of $70 dollars with an included in-game store which brings in more profit for the company.
However, among the player community, there has been some discussion about how purchasing some items is actually messing with their overall gaming experience, seemingly in Warzone 2. Some players believe that the game is becoming pay-to-win, and it is quite interesting, to say the least.
Call of Duty Warezone gives players easy bot lobbies if they spend money
Strahfe tweeted some images from a patent filed by Activision. This patent shows the matchmaking system and how it works but also shows that the system can see who is using a purchased skin or item and then influence other players to buy the product available for purchase in the store.
To make it plain, the patent suggests that players who purchase a skin or item are likely to be moved to matches where a newer or lesser skilled player is in. The better player with a skin or item is likely to dominate the match using the new skin, influencing the less-skilled players to want that same item.
It’s a form of influencer advertising, but neither player would know they are being sold to.
The goal is that after a player purchases one skin, they will for sure come back to buy another. Many players suspect this is currently in use or has been in use for some time, but there’s no information on when Activision will use it or if they have.
The Call of Duty franchise is always adding content to their games that are available for purchase, especially with Warzone 2, which is one of the only free-to-play CoD games to date. Players have the ability and option to purchase an assortment of different skins, weapon skins, and much more to be used while in a game.
This is concerning, as players should know when they are being advertised to, and this is a way of advertising to players who can be younger and are impressionable. The community may need to dig a bit deeper to find out more.
