Call of Duty: Warzone players have a long list of current frustrations with the battle royale. The Pacific update for Warzone led to a wave of discontentment for the game, but there are broader issues that go beyond performance and gameplay balance. Call of Duty: Warzone is a live-service game that’s heavily monetized, a system that despite its widespread use and popularity remains highly scrutinized. It’s perhaps no surprise then that the latest Call of Duty: Warzone season’s battle pass has become a focus of criticism, too.
As in many other games, Call of Duty: Warzone features a battle pass. This pass includes a free rewards track for those unwilling to pay for the premium battle pass, as well as frequent rewards for those who purchase the seasonal track. For those who play a lot of Call of Duty: Warzone, it’s a great way to feel like playing regularly is that much more rewarding. The system loses its shine, however, when it doesn’t feel like progression through the battle pass matches the amount of time spent playing.
Many Call of Duty: Warzone players across social media, including Reddit and Twitter, are sharing the sentiment that battle pass progression feels broken right now. They’re saying that they don’t feel like the battle pass is rewarding them adequately considering how much they’ve played. One player says that they’re “level 275 now” but only “3/4 of the way through the battle pass, calling the situation stupid. The same player said they gained 75 levels but only progressed a quarter of the way through the battle pass.
Other players believe that it’s not a matter of Call of Duty: Warzone poorly tuning battle pass experience gain, but a genuine bug with the game. One player says that their brother is progressing through the battle pass at a fraction of the pace they are, despite playing more and being a stronger player in general. In other words, that battle experience gain isn’t being calculated correctly for many players.
It’s no surprise that Call of Duty: Warzone players are leaping to negative conclusions. Warzone may genuinely have a broken progression system, or it may be intentionally tuned to be punishing to get players to spend money or play more. It may not be, too, but amidst so many other frustrations Call of Duty fans aren’t likely to give Activision the benefit of the doubt.
It doesn’t help that monetization systems are becoming increasingly aggressive across many major game releases. 343 Industries is having to rework Halo Infinite’s monetization due to player feedback. Ubisoft’s aggressive push for video game NFTs met with scorn. Warzone’s battle pass may not be as costly, but Call of Duty players already don’t feel like they’re being treated well by Activision. The battle pass issues are only compounding those negative attitudes.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
