With the launch of Call of Duty Season 4, Activision quietly inserted advertisements into loadouts for Black Ops 6 and Warzone, triggering widespread backlash.

Activision already faces criticism for its aggressive monetization of the premium Black Ops 6 and its free-to-play battle royale, Warzone—but this new move may have pushed many players past their limit.

After Season 4 launched, ads for weapon bundles began appearing in the loadout and weapon selection menus. These promotions are unavoidable as players customize their gear.

Really? I have to see this crap even in my loadouts
byu/SWO0ZY inblackops6

.reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; }> Did they seriously add bundle ads to the weapon selection menu?

byu/JustTh4tOneGuy inblackops6

.reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; }> Season 4 brings new in-game ad space for weapons

byu/whambampl inblackops6

.reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; }Elsewhere, Activision has added bundle and Battle Pass ads to the Events tab—a change that has also drawn heavy complaints.

Don’t miss the “opportunity to buy skins” event!
byu/tideshark inblackops6

.reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; }Here’s a snippet of the response, sourced from across Call of Duty subreddits, Discords, and social media:

I wouldn’t even be upset if this were only in Warzone, a free game—but slapping ads into a paid premium title, especially as prices keep climbing? F**k off. This game still costs €80. I get they make most of their money from the store, but shouldn’t the bare minimum for a premium product be no ads cluttering the menus? At this point, it feels exactly like opening a mobile game—every screen pushes something to buy. Anyone interested in a bundle would’ve gone straight to the store. Putting ads here doesn’t drive sales—it just irritates players. Just wait until they start popping up ads during gameplay.

Call of Duty has faced monetization controversies before, of course. Players are accustomed to battle passes, premium battle passes, and even pricier tiers layered atop the $70 (soon $80) entry fee. But there’s a growing sense that the franchise’s microtransaction strategy has grown even more aggressive since Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

And it’s worth noting that earlier this month, Activision quietly shut down Warzone Mobile, the game meant to redefine the battle royale genre, after admitting it failed to meet expectations.

IGN has asked Activision for comment.