EP CODEs are being given for free by Activision for watching their big Call of Duty NEXT show on Twitch for one hour. The show starts on September 30 at 9:00 AM Pacific Time; that is noon for all east coasters in the United States. Just keep this tab in place as you make a sandwich, and you got beta access. What do you think about it? Sound almost too simple?
This was dropped by the usual go-to video game information sources, CharlieINTEL, and the response was what one expected: a laundry list of hype, confusion, and salt. People are still on or rather sold about it with the likes of Harpreet Thind who says, “I’ll be watching.” Very simple. Very direct. No frills. Others had already begun to contrast it with other games with Pokémon Trainer Blue saying, “So they are doing the same crap bf6 did…..” Well, yes, Battlefield has done this watch-to-earn stuff before. It is not a new idea; but for Call of Duty, it is the smack bang in-your-face way of engaging players without pré-ordering.
Bigger question-pre-order? The replies revolve around this too, and it seems it is not a need, which is sort of crazy. Asking, RavetsU goes on: “So no preorder needed?” And based on the tweet, that is exactly what it looks like. People are fairly upset about this now. ScottyMcGaming replied grumpily: “Of course they do… Give a big middle finger to those preorders, huh?” This unfurled a whole discussion with a user by the name Peewee78368 fighting back with: “Its obvi pre-orders are low and now they just want everyone in at that point.” Which, honestly, feels like a very astute observation. If pre-orders aren’t as good as they thought, this is a great way to get everyone hyped and have the mass of players trying the beta.
Oh, waits another layer. The Game Pass Ultimate crew is chiming in hard. Nominal others like AyoCaIeb and imDazzer asked: “do GamePass subscribers get early access anyway?” Per this helpful reply from GhostyBoi, YES! He said, “Gamepass ultimate and PC gamepass get early access to the open beta, if you’re subscribed to either one you’re good to go for the beta.” Hence, for a massive chunk of the Xbox player base, this Twitch drop is kinda redundant.” Jose_AN_up even said, “If you have gamepass ultimate you have early access for this trash, so not necessary to waste time watching this other trash.” Harsh, but he isn’t utterly wrong; makes you wonder who this promotion is really for; maybe it’s mostly targeting PlayStation and PC players that don’t have that Game Pass perk.
Then there are others that couldn’t care less. A classic dropped by EvieFrye1820: “They’d have to pay me to play honestly. Ain’t got time gonna deal with unemployed sweats.” The struggle against ultra-dedicated, all-day players is real, and she’s not alone in that feeling. Another user, Doublevipers, saw this as a lesson: “This is why you save your preorders!!” A good reminder that in today’s game landscape, pre-ordering super early often doesn’t get you the exclusive advantages it used to.
There was a small international feel to the replies with a_user named Puppy, an index messenger, answering in Portuguese to someone else: “TAVA ME PERGUNTANDO QUANDO COMEÇAVA” which just means “I WAS WONDERING WHEN IT STARTED.” The hype is worldwide.
The content creator ChadOfDuty entered the bunch of replies, which is pretty cool. Someone asked if his audience would get drops from his stream, to which he responded, “Not automatically, but I’m gonna give away any codes I pick up throughout the event personally: I’ll give away my personal drops from COD NEXT/CODE BOWL stream lurks, promise imma do all I can to get you on that beta.” A real G move, trying to get this done for his community.
Well, let’s get real here: Activision wants to amass a big viewership for their Call of Duty NEXT next. By attaching a very real and very sought-after reward such as early beta access on the occasion, they can guarantee huge viewing numbers. It is smart. The fact that pre-orders are not a big deal anymore is highlighted by this method. They want as many eyeballs as possible on the game, whether or not you have already committed. It shows an attempt at winning back goodwill or just trying to cast a wider net after the last few years of… well, Call of Duty being Call of Duty.
Obviously, getting into the Black Ops 7 beta is everything. Everybody is wondering about Zombies, with OwndxPrzey commenting on, “Gonna watch so I can play zombies, keen as.” The Black Ops series always had a special place in many hearts- especially with Treyarch back at the helm- so the excitement could be felt even through the cynicism.
All things considered, pretty simple: circle September 30 on your calendar. Set a reminder for 9 am PT. Open Twitch on your phone or browser. Let it run for one hour while doing anything else. Grab your code and start dropping into hopefully reclaiming Black Ops. For its die-hard fans or just the curious, the SRO ticket to Free Beta is the valid one. Maybe just think twice before hitting that pre-order button next time.
