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

The upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) crossover in *Call of Duty: Black Ops 6* has sparked a significant debate within the gaming community due to its hefty price tag. Activision has announced that the Season 02 Reloaded content, set to launch on February 20, will feature a TMNT-themed event. Each of the four turtles—Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael—will be available in premium bundles, each expected to cost 2,400 COD Points, or $19.99. This means that to collect all four turtles, players would need to spend around $80 in COD Points.

But the costs don't end there. Following the model of the controversial Squid Game crossover, Activision is also introducing a premium event pass for the TMNT event, priced at 1,100 COD Points or $10. This pass includes exclusive cosmetics, such as the character Splinter, which cannot be obtained through any other means. The free track of the event pass offers some rewards, like two Foot Clan soldier skins, but the most sought-after items are locked behind the paywall.

While the TMNT crossover focuses on cosmetics and does not impact gameplay, many players feel that the pricing is exorbitant. The community has voiced frustration over the monetization strategy, especially with the introduction of a second premium event pass in *Call of Duty*. Some players argue that *Black Ops 6* is being monetized as if it were a free-to-play game, similar to *Fortnite*.

Voices from the community, such as redditor II_JangoFett_II, have criticized Activision's approach: "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 noted the shift in event rewards: "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 a humorous yet poignant critique: "The Turtles don’t use guns. Their fingers wouldn’t even... I hate this..."

Activision's monetization strategy for *Black Ops 6* includes a standard battle pass costing 1,100 COD Points / $9.99, with a premium BlackCell version at $29.99, alongside a variety of cosmetics available in the store. The addition of the TMNT event pass on top of these existing options has led to further discontent among players. PunisherR35 expressed a common sentiment: "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)."

The aggressive monetization approach is not new for *Call of Duty*, but the introduction of premium event passes with the Squid Game and now TMNT crossovers has pushed some fans to their limits. The uniform monetization strategy across *Black Ops 6* and the free-to-play *Warzone* has led to calls for *Black Ops 6* Multiplayer to adopt a free-to-play model, especially as it increasingly resembles other free-to-play titles like *Fortnite*, *Apex Legends*, and *Marvel Rivals*.

Despite the backlash, Activision and its parent company Microsoft are likely to maintain their current monetization strategy, given the continued success of *Call of Duty*. *Black Ops 6* achieved the largest launch in the franchise's history and set a new single-day record for Game Pass subscriptions. Sales on PlayStation and Steam also saw a 60% increase compared to *Modern Warfare 3* in 2023. This success is a significant win for Microsoft, which acquired Activision for a staggering $69 billion.