Fee-to-pay extra coming tomorrow

If you were worriedfee-to-pay microtransactionswere going to become the norm … prepare to be justified. Activision has announced it’ll be jumping aboard the bandwagon tomorrow, introducingincremental buy-me-upsforCall of Duty: Black Ops II.

The publisher promises its “Micro Items” won’t affect gameplay and, in fairness, this appears to be true for the most part. Here are the three things players will be able to purchase as of tomorrow:

Article image

The “Micro Items” will be coming to the Xbox 360, with a release on other systems unconfirmed.

As our own Chris Carter pointed out, the extra loadout slots could have a minor effect on gameplay, since players would be able to tailor any number of characters for any given situation and switch them out on the fly, giving them a more nuanced advantage. A small point maybe, but one the hardest of the core may consider.

The opening area of the Whisper mission, in a small grove.

On the whole, this isn’tterriblybad, and I’ll give Activision its props for being one of the few big publishers to remain evil in good old fashioned ways rather than bite fully into some of the newer, more insidious ideas of the past few years. Nevertheless, this is a glimpse of an upcoming generation filled with more online requirements and microtransaction leanings than ever before, and I can’t say it fills me with glee.

The Divide in the Cosmodrome, where the Guardian was resurrected.

A holofoil Ribbontail, as seen in collections.

The Phoneutria Fera hand cannon, inspired by the Season of the Haunted armor set. It has a unique, galactic glow.

Three Fuses appear in a match of Apex Legends' Wild Card mode.

Mad Maggie opens a supply bin and an item with a symbol indicating infinite ammo appears.

Legends slide through a zipline in King’s Canyon in Apex Legends.

Article image

The Yeartide Apex tex Mechanica SMG with a Holofoil glow.