Call of Duty’s Ongoing 4/20 Obsession Sparks Debate Among Fans: Some Have Had Enough, Others Really Want That Seth Rogen Skin
Call of Duty is steeped in 4/20 culture. It’s something Activision has monetized for years now, doubling down on the fanbase’s reputation for kicking back and relaxing while going for those killstreaks. But with Black Ops 6 and Warzone, the 4/20 microtransactions have leveled up, and now Seth Rogen is in the game some fans have had enough.
The Season 03 Reloaded update, out tomorrow, May 1, is pretty much all about 4/20 culture, even though it arrives 11 days after the day itself. The Joint Operations (I see what they did there) Limited Time Mode is a Black Ops 6 multiplayer variant that adds modifiers, including a +420 Score Bonus (I see what they did there), 3rd Person, Visual Impairment, Double Health, Hardcore, Paranoia Sounds, Low Gravity, Double Jump, and Increased Movement Speed (I see what they did there, etc).
It’s a similar situation over in battle royale Warzone. The Verdansk Limited Time Mode High Trip Resurgence (I’m not saying it again) challenges players to “smoke” the competition (nope, I’m not saying it).
And then there’s the High Art event, which includes yet another 1,100 COD Point-premium event pass (we’ve been through this before with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). This time, world famous pothead Seth Rogen is the actual star of the event pass, with exclusive skins in the premium track. Take that, Jay & Silent Bob.
The event Blaze of Glory (MP, ZM, WZ) runs from May 6-15, and tasks players with collecting Blaze Bucks dropped by eliminated enemies and found in supply caches in Warzone. Even Nuketown, perhaps Call of Duty’s most popular map, is getting a 4/20 makeover as it becomes Blazetown. Check it out in the video below.
OK so, that’s a lot. Multiple 4/20 events, 4/20 modifiers, a 4/20 Nuketown, and, for the first time, a 4/20 premium event pass. Is it all a bit… much? Is it time for Call of Duty to move on?
Ahead of the Season 03 Reloaded update going live this week, 4/20 has become the big talking point within Call of Duty’s online community, particularly within the online Black Ops 6 community. “What’s with the 420 obsession?” asked redditor 12MillionDollarMan in a post upvoted over 1,100 times.
“It was funny like 15 years ago in MW2 with the joint ops and high command titles but now it’s f*** obsessed levels it’s not even funny anymore, just over done.”
“It was just recently 4/20 and they lowkey suck at scheduling stuff properly,” added ih8atlascorp. “I personally don’t care for it, and do think it’s getting overplayed, but at the same time, there’s a clear market if they keep releasing more, so power to those who choose to spend their money on this.
“I do think the Host Rogen skin is at least cool looking though. Feel like they could’ve easily just done a celebrity event pass for this with him. First one just looks goofy.”
“Yea; I don’t mind 420 or weed; it just feels weird that this year’s COD has felt glued to it,” commented Hambino0400. “I’m sure it sells stupid good which is why but still; I just would like some variety.”
“It just keeps getting worse with the ‘Weed’ stuff. Now Seth Rogen is in on it?” complained ShortPeaness4074 in another post.
Others have no problem with COD’s ongoing 4/20 obsession, and suggest players shouldn’t be surprised to see Activision continue to lean into it.
“I don’t know why anyone is shocked in any capacity, if you’ve played the game longer than five minutes almost every lobby has a 420 in at least one person’s name, a good portion of this demographic is potheads,” said RedHatRogue. “People are buying this shit, hell I bought the weed wizard with rewards points I had lying around because he looked funny.”
As has been pointed out, Activision would ditch the 4/20 updates if they weren’t popular enough to justify the time, effort, and expense it takes to put them together. Call of Duty players love this stuff, and they probably always will.
Warzone, with its recently launched return to Verdansk, is generally speaking in a good place, with fans loving the nostalgia fuelled return to the map that started it all. Check out IGN’s sweeping interview with the developers behind Verdansk to find out how they went about it.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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