Call of Duty players are discovering an unwelcome addition to their gaming experience as Activision has quietly put in in-game advertisements within the loadout menus of both Black Ops 6 and Warzone. With no heads-up or notes in the latest updates, the publisher has slipped in promotional pop-ups that push paid content right onto the screens where players customize their weapons and classes.
These ads aren’t just tucked away in store pages—they pop up in the main loadout menus. Players now run into promos for premium skins, weapon bundles, and the “Black Cell” battle pass tier even while they’re just trying to tweak their gear before matches.
What really stands out is that this applies to both Warzone, which is free-to-play, and Black Ops 6, a game that costs around $70. It’s a big change for Activision, bringing mobile-style ad tactics into full-price console and PC games.
Call of Duty has been ramping up its ways to make money from players for years now. What started out with map packs and season passes has turned into a whole marketplace full of microtransactions—like battle passes, operator skins, weapon blueprints, and tons of other cosmetics. The franchise makes billions every year, and in-game purchases bring in a huge chunk of that cash.
This move matches trends across the gaming industry, where the gap between free-to-play and paid game money-making gets thinner every year. Games like NBA 2K and EA Sports have dropped similar ads into their full-priced games before. Players usually complain when it happens, but the sales keep rolling in.
The timing is pretty interesting, too, since Valve just updated its policy for Steam to clamp down on certain types of in-game ads for PC games sold there. That could mean Call of Duty’s new ad pop-ups might end up butting heads with digital storefront rules down the line.
Even though players are pretty unhappy about all these money grabs, Call of Duty keeps crushing it in sales. The $30 premium battle makes millions every time there’s a new season, showing that while some players grumble online, plenty of others still shell out for extra content.
