For a long time now, many have justified in-game cash shops with the phrase “it’s just cosmetic.” It’s a sentiment that makes sense on the surface, but I think it becomes harder to justify as games become more and more bent towards pushing those cash shop items. At what point is it too much? For some, it seems, it’s when ads for the cash shop get crammed into places they don’t belong, like, say, the loadout menus in Call of Duty.

Ads for the cash shop in Call of Duty have already been borderline inescapable for many years now but have, at least, been contained to non-gameplay related screens and menus. With the latest updates to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone, however, that containment has been broken. As reported by IGN, players have reported encountering ads for bundles and other cash shop items in the loadout menus for these games, with many being very upset with the intrusion.

Players also reported seeing similar ads for the battle pass and cash shop sales in the events menu alongside the usual notices for things like double xp weekends and the like. The response to that has also, apparently been negative. Indeed, it seems that Activision has no problem letting its reputation continue to sink if it means snagging a few more dollars from its customers.

That’s the thing, though, isn’t it? The only reason Activision is doing this is because it thinks it’ll encourage people to buy. And why does it think that? Because people will buy. Be it Fortnite, Madden, NBA 2K, FC, and, yes, Call of Duty (among many others), the pattern is the same. People complain mightily when new MTX get introduced or when existing MTX get more intrusive, but they still buy in the end. And thus, these companies will keep pushing the MTX envelope.

The solution to this is the same as it ever was: if you don’t like it, then don’t buy it. It’s really that simple, and I think most gamers realize that. After all, it’s only something like 20% of players that will engage with a cash shop more than once, but that’s enough people for the likes of Activision to rake in literal millions every year. Some people have too much money to care about what a cool skin costs, while others (unfortunately) have spending problems or a psychological need to have the coolest and latest (problems these companies have no problem preying upon).

I still say that not buying and not playing is the way to fix this though. After all, if there isn’t enough population to support a game, then even big spenders won’t have a reason to keep buying. I mean, what’s the point in looking cool if no one is there to see it? There is an abundance of solid games out there besides these massive series, so why not sit out one or two and enjoy something else (something that actually respects your time and money) while the executives sweat over dropping player counts?

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Anyway, that’s my take on it, but what’s yours? Do you see a solution to this or are these sorts of AAA series already a lost cause?

Image from the Modern Warfare 3 Battle.net page