Modern Warfare Special Ops Survival Mode Exclusive to PS4 for One Year
Exclusivity deals aren’t anything new to the video game world. Console-timed exclusives have become more popular, luring people to one console over another. We’ve seen this with the early access to DLC for PS4 players in the previous Call of Duty and with the exclusive armor in Destiny for the first year.
The newest rendition of this marketing trope, however, may have pushed it a bit too far. During the State of Play stream, Activision unveiled the trailer for the new Spec Ops Survival mode for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. It’ll be exclusive to PS4 users until October 1, 2020.
Xbox and PC players will have to wait until next October to play this mode, though the co-op and regular spec-ops missions will still be available.
Community Backlash
The community quickly worked itself into a frenzy over exclusivity of the Spec Ops Survival mode. Many expressed frustration with Activision’s user-unfriendly monetization decisions for the series. Others were surprised such exclusivity deals were still prevalent currently.
Others remarked how the move was the last straw for them. They’d be boycotting the title in protest of Activision’s nickel and diming of its player base.
While this is a first for the Call of Duty franchise, though, it isn’t all that new to the game’s industry.
Destiny 2 famously had an entire strike held back for a year from Xbox. The newest Tomb Raider was also an Xbox exclusive game for the first year of its existence.
This exclusivity isn’t unique to consoles either. PC gaming has begun to experience this trend with Epic buying exclusivity on its Epic Games Store for titles like Borderlands 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. Both have a year exclusivity.
The community backlash has been immense every time something like this happens. The continuing record-setting sales of these titles is proving to developers that the bad PR is worth it monetarily.
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