Free COD: Black Ops 6 Crossover With Squid Game Locks Best Rewards Behind A Paywall

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is getting a Squid Game event this weekend following the hit Netflix show’s recent return with season two. Unlike previous events, however, this one will lock some of its best rewards behind a paid event pass. Think of it as a battle pass within a battle pass, on top of an already $70 game. How fitting for the military shooter’s latest class-warfare-infused crossover.

The Squid Game event goes live January 3 with limited-time events across BO6 multiplayer, zombies, and Call of Duty: Warzone, including the horror show’s infamous Red Light, Green Light game. The update will include the sale of new operator bundles, including the Pink Guards Tracer Pack. More controversially, some of its rewards, like a Front Man operator skin, can only be unlocked through the premium track of an event pass that costs 1100 COD Points, or roughly 11 dollars.

“While every player can progress and unlock items along the Free reward track, a second Premium reward track in the Event Pass offers even more,” an Activision blog post for the update reads. “Purchase the Premium track to access the ability to unlock additional themed rewards, including the instant reward ‘High Authority’ XM4 Assault Rifle Blueprint plus Blueprints for the Knife, GS45 Pistol, and Saug SMG as well as a Concussion Grenade Equipment Skin, a Finishing Move, the ‘Throwdown’ Emote, the ‘Who’s Left’ Talking Gun Screen, and more!”

While Call of Duty charging extra for cool stuff is nothing new, a paid event pass is. Outside of shop bundles, previous crossovers for Fallout and Dune let players earn rewards simply by playing. The Squid Game event gates some of those rewards behind a paid battle pass that, unlike the game’s regular battle passes, doesn’t even let players earn back the COD points they used to buy it (you actually used to be able to earn back points by progressing through battle passes, but that opportunity recently went away).

It’s just another way that modern Call of Duty has been aping Fortnite’s collaboration-fueled business model, but without the main virtue of that game: being free-to-play. The series’ newest microtransaction controversy comes amid other ongoing community complaints around skill-based matchmaking and anti-cheat protections, but Call of Duty still dominates the charts. It’s on pace to be last year’s best-selling game, and still tops the console weekly active user charts.