Black Ops 6 cosmetics: has Call of Duty jumped the shark?

A few days ago, I saw a video that made me a little sad. You may or may not have seen it, a leaked clip of an upcoming Black Ops 6 kill animation in which a player kills another with a unicorn fart laser beam. Yes, seriously.

It made me nostalgic for the good old days. Which, as any gamer knows, is whatever games we were playing between the ages of 12 and 15. For me, this involved an unhealthy dose of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and the four-year span of games that followed. When cosmetic DLC wasn’t a thing, and the only skins were earned through gameplay.

It also got me thinking about how we reached this point. Black Ops 6, with its colorful cosmetics, is immensely popular, enjoying the most successful launch month of any Call of Duty, although many in the community feel the new game is a breaking point. So, has Call of Duty jumped the shark with Black Ops 6‘s cosmetics, or is Treyarch simply giving players what they want?

The history of Call of Duty cosmetics

Back in the early days of the series, purchasable cosmetics were a non-factor. Players had to earn their weapon skins on the battlefield, a statement that held true until 2012’s Black Ops 2. There, the series dabbled in skin microtransactions, which, ultimately, it never came back from. Fine. Whatever.

It took things a step further in 2013 when Call of Duty: Ghosts introduced the Snoop Dogg multiplayer announcer pack. Similarly, 2016’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare introduced a Ken Jeong multiplayer voice pack. Now, I love Ken Jeong, but I don’t need him telling me that a Tactical Nuke is inbound. While not a literal cosmetic, I’d call them cosmetic-adjacent.

For years, Call of Duty dipped its toes into this world but averted fully diving into it in a gaming landscape increasingly dominated by crossover-fests like Fortnite. Step up, 2022’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The Operator skins in this title went from 0 to 100. Crossovers were suddenly the norm. You’d go from being dominated by Lara Croft in one lobby to being gunned down by Lionel Messi, Nicki Minaj, and Homelander in the next. If there was a singular moment Call of Duty “jumped the shark,” it’s probably this.

The approach continued into Modern Warfare 3 a year later, with everything from The Terrifier to The Walking Dead eventually making its way to the game. It divided opinions. Call of Duty Multiplayer would never have a cohesive aesthetic ever again, but it made tons of money. Isn’t that what really matters?

That brings us to where we are in the series today, post-Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launch.

Black Ops 6 was a new hope

When Black Ops 6 was released, cosmetics didn’t transfer over from previous Call of Duty games. This gave Treyarch a blank slate to work with, and in the opening weeks, hopes were high. Operator skins were grounded in reality, giving Black Ops 6 a grittier feeling than the past couple of titles.

Almost two months later, this period feels like a distant memory. The Operators in Black Ops 6 are wilder than ever before, with wacky creations of Treyarch’s own design. From the series’ first cel-shaded character to “Daddy Claus,” there’s something silly for everyone here.

If there was any hope that Black Ops 6 might be a more grounded experience, Treyarch has swiftly put a dampener on that with many of its opening cosmetics. The crossovers are set to begin, too, with the announcement of a Black Ops 6 x Squid Game 2 collaboration on the way.

Like Fortnite, Call of Duty has become a vessel that other companies use to advertise their own products. Considering how much Call of Duty has to offer by itself, I just think that’s a little sad. As for the unicorn fart laser cosmetic? Sure, why not? It would be just the tip of the iceberg for this kind of thing at this point.

Black Ops 6 can still get it right

We’re too far down the rabbit hole to ever move away from paid Operators at this point, but Black Ops 6 can still get it right. With some of the Operators released so far, such as Exterminator, Coyote, and Dune Wraith, you have awesome-looking options without completely diluting the game’s visual aesthetic.

You’ll never completely remove the bright and colorful Black Ops 6 cosmetics, but more of this could go a long way toward making the game feel more cohesive going forward.

I do acknowledge that this would require a complete shift in direction, one that Treyarch has shown no sign of taking. I expect Black Ops 6 to continue to court the Fortnite audience because, ultimately, it has worked so far.

While I may yearn for simpler times, the reality is that many Call of Duty fans don’t, and that’s okay. Black Ops 6 has already jumped the shark, and it will likely continue to do so many, many times over the next year.