DMZ’s ‘pay-to-win’ bundles spark outrage among Warzone 2 players

The Bomb Squad has an unfair advantage

Infinity Ward released a new type of cosmetic bundle in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0 store that is stirring up quite the controversy. The new Bomb Squad bundle offers certain DMZ players an advantage through its otherwise innocuous items, and much of the community is unhappy about this.

DMZ Bomb Squad Season 3 bundle, released

The new Bomb Squad cosmetic bundle is far different than anything else Infinity Ward and Activision has done before. This bundle includes five seemingly normal cosmetic items:

• EOD Specialist operator skin
• Boom Proof Sakin MG38 weapon blueprint
• DMZ Active Duty Slot
• Concussive Conclusion weapon sticker
• Which Wire? Emblem

From a glance, this seems like a fairly ordinary bundle like all of the other ones in the store in Season 3. However, a closer look at some of these items reveal some never-before-seen twists that are concerning for the future of DMZ and Call of Duty.

‘Pay-to-win’ bundles lead to concerns for DMZ’s future

For starters, the Active Duty Slot is a unique item that hasn’t been in a bundle before. In DMZ Season 3, players have up to three Active Duty Slots.

These slots are essentially loadouts you can create with weapons and skins for easy access. The most valuable part about them is that each slot keeps track of your exfiltration streak. The higher your streak, the better rewards you get in each match.

Having a slot only available via a bundle gives some players four save slots, which is unfair to everyone else. If you have a chain of 10 exfils on one slot and you die on a mission, losing it forever, it’s not a huge problem for Bomb Squad owners, as you have three other slots with chains for you to switch to.

Both the operator skin and weapon blueprint include specialized perks that work only in DMZ. The EOD Specialist offers players a free medium backpack in every DMZ mission they do, so long as they have that skin equipped.

Backpacks are useful for letting you store more items, and this skin ensures you don’t have to look around for one in each match. And the weapon blueprint has a unique perk where insuring the weapon only has a 15-minute cooldown.

“Insuring” is where you lock a specific weapon so you never lose it, even if you die in a match. However, weapon insurance generally has a cooldown of 1-2 hours before you can use it again. That isn’t the case with the Boom Proof LMG blueprint, where you only have to wait 15 minutes to use this already powerful weapon again.

With the four Active Duty Slots you have, you could go into every match with a backpack and even if you die, you just have to use one of the other slots for 15 minutes and you’re instantly back with the Boom Proof. Every match would give you an advantage over others.

These special DMZ perks are only available in this bundle. There is no way for other players to unlock these perks through challenges or the like, resulting in claims of this being “pay-to-win.”

Since DMZ generally includes other players in each match, you could be up against players who have this bundle and already have a strong advantage against you.

Players are concerned this points to more bundles like it

Other purported leaks show future potential bundles with concerning effects, like a packed-in self-revive kit. This could give players an inherent advantage over those who don’t opt to pay for and equip them, creating a “pay-to-win” scenario that has DMZ players concerned.

For now, the only positive about these “pay-to-win” DMZ bundles is that they would only work for this mode. Thankfully, these bundles don’t affect Warzone 2.0 battle royale modes or Modern Warfare 2 matches. Even still, it is unfortunate that Infinity Ward is sparking outrage and potentially tainting DMZ. It’s even more painful since this is one of the best new additions in the latest Call of Duty games.

Cody Perez

Freelance Writer – Cody has been a huge fan of Destructoid for more than a decade as well as a freelance writer for various publications. Now working for Destructoid, he has the chance to share his passion for Final Fantasy XIV, Pokemon, Call of Duty, and many more games.