In CoD Warzone there will soon be a new skin bundle called Oktoberfest. However, it draws heavily on clichés and especially offends our Bavarian MeinMMO editor Jürgen Horn in his honor.
What kind of bundle is this? Later in the Mid-Season 5 of Warzone, a new skin bundle called “Oktoberfest” will be added to the shop. The bundle has the theme of beer and includes the following items:
- A lederhosen skin for the Operator Beck
- A weapon skin for the AK74, the XM4, and the ballistic knife
- A finishing move
- A watch
- A beer mug charm
- A beer calling card
- and an emblem with beer mugs that says “Cheers!”
In addition, you will receive special beer tracer ammunition for both weapon skins, and there is even a mission pack for the Beck skin, with which you can earn CoD Points (the real-money currency of CoD). That sounds pretty good, right?
The Oktoberfest bundle shows massive cultural ignorance
What bothers about the bundle? While some elements of the bundle may seem funny, I have to shake my head at some details. It starts with the skin for Operator Beck.
He is actually an East German soldier of the National People’s Army and later part of a special East German anti-terror unit that operated during the Cold War in the 80s.
The man must have never visited an Oktoberfest, and lederhosen were certainly not worn in East Berlin in the 80s.
But okay, the man can dress however he wants; I can live with that. What really doesn’t go, really doesn’t go, are the weapon skins!
Well, the AK74 has a skin called “Hefeweizen.” That’s not the typical Oktoberfest brew, but at least it’s Bavarian! The XM4 skin, on the other hand, is called “Kölsch,” has the inscription “Cheers” on the magazine, and is adorned with lederhosen ornaments.
Seriously? Kölsch, Bavaria, and Oktoberfest all at once? That just doesn’t work! That’s just too ridiculous!
It seems that a joker in the design department thought, “Well, we have October, so we can make beer skins for the German operator and give them some typical German beer names. Kölsch was at the gamescom, right?”
Honestly, I find it pretty ignorant to throw together various totally incompatible German beer traditions in a bundle. This mainly serves clichés and stitches cultural peculiarities into a bizarre stereotype-Frankenstein.
So now an East German NVA soldier in lederhosen is running across the battlefield and shooting from a Bavarian decorated weapon called Kölsch. Well hello!
What’s still cool about the bundle? On the other hand, the lederhosen skin certainly has something, and compared to killer clowns and other funny characters from the skin shop, it’s not that bad. Also, as a fan of beer, I like the beer mug and the “Cheers!” emblem. I would like to have that somehow in the game.
So I might still buy it when it’s in the shop, and maybe by then I’ll have had a few drinks. Just the horrible Kölsch skin is something the developers can keep! Besides: You can at least partly get back the purchase price through the CP missions.
When does the bundle come out and how much will it cost? The release of the bundle is stated by Activision as “Later in the Mid-Season.” Since it’s an Oktoberfest bundle, September 18 would be a likely date, as that’s when Oktoberfest 2021 would have started if it hadn’t been canceled again because of Corona.
The price of the bundle is 2,400 CP, which is about 24 euros.
Since I have finally also found pleasure in Warzone, skin bundles are also interesting for me.
