Is Black Ops 6 pay to win? A returning feature could spell disaster

There was a time in the Call of Duty series where pay to win elements ran rampant. Back in the era of supply drops, players could pay real money to earn exclusive weapons and blueprints that were stronger than anything else in multiplayer. While Black Ops 6 won't feature gameplay-altering blueprints or supply drops, one returning feature could allow paying customers to gain huge advantages.

Black Ops 6 sees the return of the classic Prestige system, which undoubtedly is one of the highlights of multiplayer this year. However, this is the first CoD title that features classic Prestige and the post-2019 Store system, two elements that might not work well together.

First and foremost, let's fully understand how the Prestige system will work in BO6 multiplayer. Instead of players ranking up to level 55 and then leveling up to a seasonal level limit as we've done for the past five years, the classic Prestige system allows you to completely reset after reaching level 55.

Getting to level 55 is the same as it's always been; you unlock all your weapons, perks, equipment, and scorestreaks throughout all 55 levels. However, in BO6, once you reach level 55, you have the option to enter Prestige mode. If you choose to do so, you'll reset your level back to one, meaning all your items are relocked. Then, you level back up to 55 and enter Prestige mode again if you wish. You can do this all the way to 10th Prestige. After that, you enter Prestige Master, which allows you to gain 1,000 extra levels.

The biggest benefit of prestiging is earning a new emblem next to your gamertag to show you how much you've been grinding. You'll also earn exclusive rewards for every Prestige and an Unlock Token. The Unlock Token allows you to permanently unlock a single item from multiplayer, allowing you to keep it unlocked even after you prestige.

Inherently, the Prestige system is not pay to win. After all, it locks all of your items except the items you've unlocked with your Unlock Tokens.

However, problems start to arise when you factor in the Store in BO6. The Store sells bundles of weapon blueprints and is active shortly after a CoD title launches. In BO6, if you purchase a Store bundle that contains a weapon blueprint, you permanently unlock that weapon blueprint. This means you can use the weapon blueprint even after prestiging, which sort of defeats the entire purpose of entering Prestige mode.

Now, you might be asking how is that pay to win? Well, let's say for example that the best overall gun in BO6 is unlocked at level 54. Obviously, it takes quite a while to reach that level every time you Prestige, meaning plenty of players won't ever be able to use the weapon for too long before resetting again. However, if there's a Store bundle that sells a weapon blueprint for that level 54 gun, players can spend real money via CoD Points to permanently unlock the gun.

Of course, you can spend one of your Unlock Tokens on the gun to never need a Store-bought blueprint. However, what about the next best weapon or a high-level weapon that becomes overpowered after a random update? Players could simply buy Store bundles with blueprints of those weapons to immediately unlock them instead of having to grind through Prestige levels.

This isn't a fully pay to win system, as all players can eventually unlock any overpowered weapons and simply not Prestige to keep them unlocked or use an Unlock Token. However, it can be considered "pay to progress," as you're using a shortcut in the form of the Store to unlock a better weapon that other players might not have access to.

Any time real-life money is involved, the situation can get a little sticky. There's not really a way around this, however, as Activision wants players who buy bundles to get what they paid for immediately. Forcing players to wait to use weapon blueprints they already purchased would plummet Store sales and spark outrage in the community.

Hopefully, this little snafu with the Prestige system doesn't cause too many issues after the release of Black Ops 6.

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