Activision is continuing its strong push for in-game monetization in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, as players have spotted that advertisements for the game’s pricey cosmetic bundles are now placed directly in its weapon menus.

The details:

Fans on the Black Ops 6 subreddit (via Eurogamer) have begun sharing screenshots of ads highlighting paid skins available for the selected gun in the game's "Gunsmith" create-a-class menu. While this is far from the first instance of heavy advertising for the in-game store in a COD title, it has sparked criticism since players are not only forced to look at ads every time they want to change a weapon, but they may also select it by accident due to its placement at the top of the menu.
Players have also pointed out that the menu already had another tab dedicated to showing weapon blueprints available in the store's various bundles, making the ad even more aggressive than previously thought. "This change is especially unneeded because you could already toggle from Builds to Shop on any given weapon, and apparently not being thrown directly in our faces didn’t make them enough money,” one Reddit user wrote. “Many of us [paid] $60-$100 for a feature game and don’t want to be bombarded with additional ads."
This is not the first time the title's in-game cosmetics have sparked controversy. Late last year, players spotted several obvious signs of generative AI use in the Season 1 Reloaded update. Several calling cards and loading screens featured artwork with poorly "drawn" ribbons and even a six-fingered zombie, eventually leading Activision to confirm that AI was used in the game via its Steam store page.

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Activision places “aggressive” in-game ads in Black Ops 6's weapon customization menu