Highlights
- The addition of Tactical Pets in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone's Blackcell bundle has sparked controversy for providing alleged "pay to win" advantages.
- The Blackcell bundles, which cost $30, include not only the main operator but also various skins and items for other operators, making them expensive.
- The Blackcell-exclusive Tactical Pet, Merlin, a German Shepard dog, has been reported to give players an unfair advantage by alerting them to enemy campers.
The new Tactical Pets introduced to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone in Season 5's Blackcell bundle are being called out for providing players with unfair "pay to win" advantages. Season 5 of Call of Duty added several new operators to the playable roster, including the return of Phillip Graves from the Modern Warfare 2 campaign and a celebration of 50 years of hip hop with popular musicians Snoop Dogg, Nicki Minaj, and 21 Savage.
Call of Duty's premium cosmetic Blackcell bundles were first introduced earlier this year during the third season of Modern Warfare 2 and were widely criticized for costing players an outrageous price tag of $30. The bundles not only include the main operator, but also Blackcell-themed variant skins for all the other Call of Duty Battle Pass operators, as well as a bevy of other weapon skins and smaller items. One of Season 5's new operators, available exclusively as part of the already controversial Blackcell bundle, is named Arthur and comes with a military German Shepard dog companion named Merlin. This Tactical Pet doesn't roam freely, but is instead strapped to the player character's back.
During the opening days of Season 5, players have been pointing out that the Blackcell-exclusive Merlin pet can give players an unfair advantage. CharlieIntel posted a video on Twitter of a player in Warzone camping in the corner of a building behind a riot shield. In the video, two enemy players without a Merlin dog run by the camping player without being alerted to their presence. Shortly after, a third player, this time with the Merlin pet strapped to their back, runs through the room and past the player, but doubles back through the room a few times, eventually noticing the player in the corner and eliminating them. The camping player noticed that each time that enemy player ran by them the dog on their back growled, hinting to the Blackcell player that the camper was nearby.
It's unclear whether Call of Duty intended for the Tactical Pet cosmetic to provide players with an audio advantage or if this only happens with campers. Modern Warfare 2's High Alert perk already does something similar, giving players a visual directional hint when an enemy player is aiming at them. If Merlin's growls are unintentional, it shouldn't take much to change them to be a randomized pattern or disable them entirely. This may not be as big of an issue if Tactical Pets weren't exclusive to the hugely expensive Blackcell bundle and instead widely available for players to earn in-game.
Since Season 4 of Call of Duty briefly introduced temporary Temp-V field upgrades to Warzone which gave players superhero-like abilities in-line with some of the characters from Amazon's The Boys TV series, perhaps Merlin's growl could also be turned into a field upgrade as well, available to all players in Warzone, Modern Warfare 2, or both. It'll be interesting to see what Call of Duty does to address Merlin's pay-to-win concerns and if the issue will be resolved by the expected mid-season "Reload."
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
