New Call of Duty Skin Comes With Controversial Upgrade

April 23, 2024

Highlights

The new Killer Serial Creep Party Pack in MW3 and Warzone grants double XP bonuses for matching party skins.
Critics argue the skin is “pay-to-win” like previous DMZ bundles, offering gameplay advantages for money.
More Call of Duty skins similar to this could come in future bundles.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone users can now purchase the Killer Serial Creep Party Pack, which includes an operator skin that gives multiple XP bonuses when at least two members in a party have the skin equipped. The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 skin has already received criticism for being “pay-to-win” and might remind CoD fans of an earlier strategy.

Last year, Modern Warfare 2 added skin bundles that included pay-to-win upgrades for DMZ, such as receiving a free medium backpack at the beginning of every match or permanently getting an additional operator slot. While many were not surprised by Activision’s approach, the bundles understandably received criticism for giving meaningful, gameplay-affecting upgrades to those willing to spend additional money on a game that already charges a premium price. Despite the criticism, it seems that the Call of Duty franchise has chosen to stick with this strategy but in a way that doesn’t affect other players as much.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone receive new updates that fix bugs and introduce minor improvements along with another Ranked Play change.

After spending 1600 CoD Points to unlock the Killer Serial Creep Party Pack, users receive the Rave skin that comes with a “Party Skin Bonus.” An in-game message explains that users receive double XP and double weapon XP when two members or more of the same party equip skins from the Killer series; additional Killer skins are set to be released in the future. Furthermore, if three or more members of the same party have Killer skins equipped, a double battle pass XP bonus is applied as well. While these XP bonuses aren’t necessarily “pay-to-win” like the previously mentioned DMZ bundles but are rather “pay-to-skip,” they do allow users to unlock new battle pass weapons at a faster rate, which are often quite powerful when first released.

New Call of Duty Skin Gives Double XP Bonuses

Activision already revealed another Killer bundle during its showcase of Modern Warfare 3‘s Season 3 update in early April. In the update overview shared on Call of Duty‘s website, the Killer Circus Freak Party Pack was shown, which was confirmed to include XP bonuses as well. Two other bundles were also mentioned, Killer: Porcelain and Killer: Bone Collector.

As has been the case for years now, Call of Duty features a massive list of XP levels for users to work their way through. When Call of Duty‘s semi-regular double XP events aren’t live, Killer skins could become a necessity for XP grinders who play in groups.

In less controversial news, a recently added Call of Duty bundle allows users to play as a spiky-haired dinosaur. Although unrealistic bundles like this one attract some negative criticism as well, at least they’re simply cosmetic.