beta is now live, but players may have already discovered some of Activision’s post-launch monetization plans for the latest military shooter from Infinity Ward.In the After Action Report for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, players found a space for ‘Common Supply Drop’ with the word ‘Lootbox’ written on top of it. Neither Activision nor Infinity Ward has discussed loot boxes for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare previously, so it was jarring for some players to see the phrase appear randomly in the beta.
Call of Duty fans are already wary of loot boxes in the series after multiple games in the franchise implemented loot boxes to varying degrees of success. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 featured multiple tiers of microtransactions including a battle pass and loot box system. Players were frustrated by the enormous time cost it took to work through the battle pass, and how certain cosmetics felt locked behind paywalls.
Even though the items in Black Ops 4 were technically available through in-game progression, the grind to get to those items was difficult for players. Even though changes were made to Black Ops 4’s loot box system to make it more manageable, some players are worried about similar issues with Modern Warfare, if it’s confirmed to get loot boxes.
Activision has also previously added microtransactions to a game post-launch. Crash Team Racing received loot boxes in an update pushed after the game’s initial launch. So even if Call of Duty: Modern Warfare doesn’t launch with loot boxes, the possibility exists that it could arrive later on.
IGN has reached out to Activision for a statement regarding these findings, but have not heard back in time for publication of this article.
Check out our Call of Duty: Modern Warfare wiki for more info, and come back to IGN for any updates on whether Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will receive microtransactions, like loot boxes.
Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can find him on Twitter.
