Activision's TMNT Crossover Sparks Debate: Should Black Ops 6 Be Free-to-Play?

The latest crossover event in *Call of Duty: Black Ops 6* featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has stirred significant discussion within the gaming community, primarily due to its hefty price tag. Activision unveiled the Season 02 Reloaded content, which includes a TMNT-themed event set to launch on February 20. This crossover introduces premium bundles for each of the four turtles—Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael—each expected to cost 2,400 COD Points, or $19.99. If you're aiming to collect all four turtles, you're looking at spending up to $80 in COD Points.

But the costs don't stop there. Similar to the Squid Game crossover, Activision has introduced a premium event pass for the Turtles crossover, priced at 1,100 COD Points or $10. This pass is the only way to obtain exclusive items like Splinter, while the free track offers lesser rewards, such as two Foot Clan soldier skins. Despite the fact that these items do not affect gameplay, the community has voiced strong opinions about the pricing.

Many players feel that the high cost of these cosmetics reflects a monetization strategy more akin to a free-to-play game like Fortnite. The criticism has been vocal, with some community members suggesting that *Black Ops 6* should consider switching to a free-to-play model to justify its aggressive monetization tactics.

Redditors have expressed frustration over the pricing. II_JangoFett_II commented, “Activision casually glossing over the fact that they want you to pay $80+ if you want the 4 Turtles, plus another $10+ if you want the TMNT event pass rewards. Call of Duty's Gross greed strikes again... DESPICABLE!” Hipapitapotamus suggested, “Guess we can expect an event pass sold every season now. Remember when events were good and got you cool universal camos for free.” APensiveMonkey added, "The Turtles don’t use guns. Their fingers wouldn’t even... I hate this..."

To understand the full scope of *Black Ops 6* monetization, it's important to note that each season introduces a new battle pass, costing 1,100 COD Points or $9.99, with a premium BlackCell version at $29.99. Additionally, the game offers a constant stream of cosmetics in the store. The Turtles crossover, with its premium event pass, adds yet another layer of cost.

PunisherR35 voiced a common sentiment, saying, “So they expect the playerbase to buy the game itself, buy the battle pass/black cell and now this? Na that's too much. If this is gonna be the norm moving forward, CoD needs to move to a FTP model (campaign, MP).”

Activision's monetization strategies are not new, but the introduction of the premium event pass with the Squid Game crossover has pushed some fans to their limit. The uniform monetization approach between the $70 *Black Ops 6* and the free-to-play *Warzone* has led to calls for *Black Ops 6* Multiplayer to go free-to-play, as it increasingly resembles other free-to-play titles like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Marvel Rivals.

Despite the outcry, Activision and its parent company Microsoft are unlikely to alter their strategy given *Black Ops 6*'s record-breaking launch and significant sales growth. The game set a new single-day Game Pass subscription record and saw a 60% increase in sales on PlayStation and Steam compared to *Modern Warfare 3* in 2023. This success underscores the continued profitability of the Call of Duty franchise for Activision and Microsoft, particularly after the latter's $69 billion acquisition of the company.