Activision adds in-app purchases to Call of Duty: Black Ops II
By
Martin Gaston, News Editor
In-app purchases for Black Ops II coming first to Xbox 360, with Nuketown 2025 now also available for free.
Activision is adding a series of in-app purchases to Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which the publisher is calling Micro Items.
The items will be available starting Wednesday March 13 for the Xbox 360. Activision community manager Dan Amrich says the "optional" packs contain "either personal customizations or nice little luxuries that I’ve seen players request."
"None of them affect gameplay," adds Amrich, "but they are small, specific ways to enhance your online experience."
The main Micro Items for sale are called Personalisation Packs, which Amrich says are like "dress-up for your favorite weapons." Each Personalisation Pack contains its own weapon camo, three targeting reticles, and a custom calling card. The only one shown at present was the Bacon Personalisation Pack, which wraps your weapons in cooked strips of the world's most famous cut of cured pork.
Personalisation Packs will sell for 160 Microsoft points, and the in-app purchases will launch first on the Xbox 360. Activision will announce availability on other platforms at a later date.
Activision will also offer the Extra Slots pack for another 160 Microsoft points, which will add 10 create-a-class slots (giving a total of 20 if the player's prestige level is high enough) and allow players to store 20 additional emblems, 32 extra films, and 40 screenshots.
There are also Flags of the World Calling Card Packs, which add a series of calling cards to the game based on national flags. These are to be distributed in packs based on region and will cost 80 Microsoft points each.
Nuketown Zombies, which was previously only included with the Hardened and Care Package editions of the game, will also be made available for purchase for 400 Microsoft points.
Alongside the addition of the in-app purchases, Activision will make Nuketown 2025--the futuristic take on the first Black Ops' most popular multiplayer map, offered as a preorder bonus in Black Ops II--available to everyone for free.
"At the end of the day, all of these items are completely optional, and were created for players who've asked for more customization options. If that's not you, that's fine; everybody gets Nuketown 2025 for free, so definitely take advantage of that."
For more information on Call of Duty: Black Ops II, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.
By
Martin Gaston, News Editor
Martin Gaston has absolutely never at all had the song from Beauty and the Beast sung to him at any point during his life, ever.
122 comments
I bought the slots pack because I had the points and something looked odd. First let me say that I purchased it from the Custom Class menu, not the store. This may not matter. I now have 10 pages of 8 slots each. I had 8 originally because of prestige tokens so it looks as if the purchase grants 100 slots across 10 pages instead of a total of 20.
Sure they have every right to do this, but if I had more money than I knew what to do with the last thing I would do is try and pinch more out of the people's pockets who put money in my pocket in the first place. I guess this is another example of how the rich get richer and you know the rest...
@tightwad34 I agree with you fully, but personally i don't see the harm in having these interesting camo's. The ten slot thing is a bit different though. That affects the game play and is bit unfair.
I hate Activision just as much as anyone, but this is seriously the dumbest thing to get angry over, I agree that $15 for a map pack is a little ridiculous. But these are just harmless camos, they don't alter the stats in any way and they cost like 2 bucks.
If players are willing to pay a few dollars for a few more customization options then who the hell cares? It gets old seeing everyone act like they're entitled to every piece of dlc simply because it's Activision.
Valve does the same thing with TF2 and no ones gives a **** because it's Valve.
6 Like I've always felt like skins are the worse kind of nickel and diming, as they require the least amount of work. How long does it take to create and apply a skin that others will barely see?
@Chaos_Dante_456 I prefer it actually. I personally would have no interest in these kind of skin packs, and they would in no way affect gameplay and I also wouldn't feel like I am missing out on something because I don't wanna pony up the extra cash. Like the guy said, it is there for those who want it.
I think you kinda look like you have no actual achievement in the game if you customize your weapons with paid for skins.
5 Like I will be the happiest man on earth if one day i wake up, open gamespot & I read that gaming sites have stopped doing any sort of advertisement for CoD.
1 Like It won't affect game play but for 160 pts, we'll give you 10 more slots. So they will indirectly affect game play. Nice. Good thing I'm done with this garbage.
1 Like Activision and EA make it sooooo easy for me to ignore all their scams posing as games.
remember, it's "games as a service" business model now. that initial $60 (soon to be $78 after tax) just gets you in the door. they'll "service" you with multiple "optional" DLC map packs, rental servers, live "look-in" video analysis, and micro-transactional rentals of your favorite pay-to-win guns (only $2.99 for 5 days of our BFG one-shot, one-kill gun. rack up the kills because you don't have the skills!). if only old school NES Ikari Warriors serviced me like this, i could've paid 99c for the privilege of a 10-pack of extra lives.
Full price should equal full game (optional content included). Save the micro transactions for free to play, where it belongs.
pay for WIFI,Pay for xbox live, pay for game, pay for season pass, when can I stop paying and just have everything that the game has to offer!!!!! just so that I can buy another call of duty in eight months!!!!!
3 Like For all of you dummies complaining about this, it's all optional! It's just a bunch of cosmetic stuff that doesn't interfere with gameplay. So what the hell is the problem!?
@Cowboy-Bebop @x_hunter00 I'm the problem because I actually dared to use some common sense?
@bmart970 None of the content has anything to do with actual gameplay. It's purely cosmetic. So what are you talking about?
@x_hunter00 @Cowboy-Bebop @bmart970 Yes, you are the problem. It's apathetic people like you that are leading the gaming industry down a dark path. First it's just cosmetic items, but this is just testing the waters for bigger things ahead. If enough people purchase these items then it tells Activision that there is a market for microtransactions in their games. So, if people are willing to pay for items that are purely cosmetic and offer no advantage, then people would have no problem paying for something that actually does increase their stats. Simply ignoring this problem is not going to make it go away; the fact is there are people that would pay to win and that's a problem for all of us rational gamers. I say keep complaining about this obvious exploitation of gamers , raise awareness, and make it known that this is not something that we support.
1 Like it's like EA and Activision are in competition to see who's the most greedy, dishonest game developer of all time.
place your bets.
1 Like Awesome! Just what I needed, another reason to both hate what CoD has become and to not buy anything in this series! Thank you Activision!
3 Like WTF!! Their greed just knows no bounds! These microtransactions are meant for free-to-play games, not full on $60 games that also charge an extra $15 for each map pack! These customizations should be added for free or included in the map packs! Now they're nickel and diming us to death after they've already charged us $110 for the full game! (full game includes map packs)
@x_hunter00 @JLCrogue Are you ignoring their reasons on purpose? When you pay full price for a game, you expect all the content (optional included). And the optional stuff has to be something that is desired or people would not want it. Full price = full game.
3 Like @JLCrogue Don't forget the annual cost to play on Xbox Live! I saw this coming years ago. Everyone complained about how expensive the PS3 was when it first came out at $599 for the top of the line 80GB version with WiFi built-in and free online play. How much is the Xbox 360 with the annual fee to play online? It's 8 years old so if you bought it on launch day for $399 your total cost with Xbox Live is now $800!!! That doesn't include the WiFi adaptor if you need it for $100 more. This was the start to ripping us gamers off!
@flyingdutchdog2 @bwgamer @JLCrogue fly, it is relevant. I'm not trying to say the PS3 is better or not over the Xbox. My point is this was the first big push of the "pay to play" mentality that has plagued gaming in this current console era. You have to ask yourself, when is it to much? This article is about optional purchases, but if I buy the game why do I have to continue to dish out cash to enjoy the game. I'm not sure how old you are, but I've played games for over 30 years and seen the industry continue to become more and more greedy. It's truly sad, because it will continue to move in this direction. It's a business after all and not really about games or us gamers.
oh look, more crap i have to download in patches just so the game can display someone elses bacon bullcrap on my screen, as if i cared. If only there was a way so that I dont need their dlc content that i didnt purchase wasting my HDD space. Kind of like requiring all the gigs of bf3 maps even though i only own the stock maps + bk2 .... what a waste.
My suggestion would be after this to add nano- mega- piko- and macro- transactions so the game is more fun
At the same time, just because you made up a new term doesnt mean they are anything but mircotransactions, if anything they sound like the exact definition of microtransactions
basically like Gears of Wars nine billion gun skins then? Thats a bit boring but if people want to buy cosmetic crap why not let em.
Wrap your gun in greasy bacon, only for $2! Or $5! I don't know, I don't have an Xbox so I don't how many MS Points equals a dollar. But either way, I'm sure you could buy real, edible bacon for the same price.
So is calling them "in app purchases" the new code word for microtransactions?
The bacon one is kind of funny but I wouldn't take that if you paid me and it's certainly never going to work the other way around.
4 Like ok, so im not interested in it myself, but lets not shit ourselves, these are just skin modifications and little extras for people who want them. they do not affect anyone who doesn't want them, so why take offence? Yes, activision are greedy sons of bitches but theyre not the first to do this and not the first company in the world motivated by money. just CHILL. Its not the end of life as we know it because someone wants fluffy dice on their crossbow.
@ryogapower The problem isn't this specific case. The problem is that they start selling nonsense like this (that should be for free), and next year they sell half game by the full price tag and the other half online, like AC3, Forza Horizon and others...
I wont buy any of these because of this abuse.
Slowly they are delivering each time less for the same price tag. Developper want to use microtransactions on its game, no problem to me as long the game is free to play. In a $60 game is outrageous!!! The same goes for always online single player games and DLC.
DLC was ment to be expansions, but in games like Forza Horizon is actually half game!!!
Nownondays they don't want to deliver even the f*ing disc!!!
"They're finally adding micro-transactions in my initially micro-transaction-free game!"
- no gamer ever
So...they're adding microtransactions. So 60 bucks for the game, 15 per dlc, and now a few bucks a piece for little things you used to unlock in game. What is the next thing they'll find to charge you for their recycled game? Keep at it activision. Hopefully you'll realize your dream of charging everyone 400 dollars per yer for the call of duty franchise.
This is a slippery slope. I realize it's only cosmetic stuff right now but I could see XP and 2XP in the future, then gun packs, then perks.
This is a small step and a test to see if they can start selling stuff that will help you win in game.
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Related Game
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- Publisher(s): Activision
- Developer(s): Treyarch
- Genre: Action
- Release:
- ESRB: M
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