The new shooter Call of Duty WW2 has received quite a bit of criticism for its loot boxes. It’s not so much about the content, but about the presentation.
“My grandfather didn’t fight in Normandy so that I could open a loot box full of common items,” is a review title of Call of Duty WW2 from the site Giantbomb.
The sentence captures a general sentiment that many likely feel: Something is not right. It just doesn’t fit.
Some loot box mechanics in CoD cause frustration. This is nothing new; fans in many games have issues with loot boxes. It’s usually about the content providing unfair advantages, that you have to “spend money to keep up,” leading to a pay-to-win scenario. In Call of Duty, however, the criticism of the loot crates takes a different direction.
Casino on Omaha Beach
In CoD WW2, the criticism targets other, more sophisticated mechanisms:
- In CoD WW2, the loot boxes are public, and you can even benefit by watching someone else open a loot box. It’s a social event. For some, this has an uncomfortable effect; it feels psychologically manipulative. Anyone who opens a loot box publicly promotes these loot boxes, inviting others to buy and open loot boxes themselves.
- Additionally, the actual animation of opening a loot box resembles that of operating a one-armed bandit. How the boxes are celebrated during the opening is similar to a gambling machine. This also gives the process a bad aftertaste. The US site Forbes accuses Activision of creating a casino atmosphere, enticing players to gamble with bling-bling, dancing colors, and spectacle.
- Some find it particularly inappropriate and obscene that this process takes place in the headquarters on the beach in Normandy. Where thousands died, players now open loot boxes and give in to commerce. Therefore, choosing the beach in Normandy as headquarters is considered inappropriate by some. It conflicts with the history of Call of Duty, with the significance and brutality of World War II.
In a statement from Activision and developer Sledgehammer to Forbes, it is stated that it is historically accurate for the beach in Normandy to be made into a headquarters. This is also historically documented – Omaha Beach was transformed into a busy military depot just days after D-Day.
The actual criticisms of the game, however, are quite positive:
