Activision has released a new BlackCell skin for Call of Duty, and the public reaction is… let’s say it is quite a spectacle. The defense Twitter account made a post about ‘Scorn,’ a heavily armored operator who will accompany the BlackCell players of Season 01. The tweet included references to ‘Full-body reactive plating’ and ‘Maximum force,’ but the players who checked the replies discovered a torrent of complaints that were more severe than any newly added cosmetic.
First of all, the Scorn operator skin was revealed by Call of Duty as a part of the premium BlackCell package of the present season. The skin demonstrates advanced armor plating and a dreadful design, which is a defining characteristic of high-tier cosmetic bundles. Nevertheless, the community is ignoring the new digital finery altogether.
If you take a deep dive into the replies, it’s akin to prising open a treasure chest filled with player complaints that have been accumulating over time. It’s in its raw form, unfiltered, and frankly, it’s a little bit of a chaotic situation. The major comments don’t highlight how cool the armor is; instead, they are a deluge of complaints that have been lurking. One player, Knuxx Grey, immediately called for a ban on a suspected cheater nicknamed ‘OBESITYLAG—BO6,’ accusing them of live-streaming cheats on YouTube and gaining impossible stats on leaderboards. That helped to set the tone.
The grumble couldn’t be mistaken. CRDXA branded the new cosmetics as ‘Trash effort compared to previous’ and called for the removal of skill-based matchmaking (SBMM). That was echoed by Seth Harwell who lamented how the game has turned overly ‘sweaty,’ which has caused his KD to drop from the 1.7-2.0 average to just slightly above breaking even. ‘Something is wrong with this game now,’ he tweeted, and a lot of gamers in the replies seem to be of the same opinion.
Technical issues are another big problem. A user named cathylouise said they instantly got kicked for ‘inactivity’ in multiplayer and demanded, ‘Needs fixing before adding new maps ect!’ Others, like Kodi Nel (footGunDev), blamed Activision for releasing an unfinished game and pointed to several crashes in just an hour and a half of play. Kris Roberts was not as diplomatic and yelled in all caps about constant stuttering on Xbox Series X: ‘FUCKING FIX IT YOU CLOWNS.’
And then there is cheating. It is the underlying theme of everything. After the initial player callout, people like ‘Outdoors’ and others in the chain of replies talked about how cheats are moving from the old games to the new one, with one user jokingly saying ‘the experts think cheating is a myth on this platform.’ The demand for an efficient anti-cheat is a common one in this thread from all directions.
Wait a second, what was I talking about? Oh yes, the skin. A few opinions, like GAM3S.GG, joined in saying ‘Armor has never looked so good!’ and Duke expressed his love by stating ‘Love the game this year. I don’t understand the hate. Keep the good content coming, devs!’ But these are minor spots in the midst of a vast ocean of discontent. Even requests for features such as carrying guns over to the next game or having a streaming mode for creators in China are drowned out by the noise of core gameplay complaints.
This is a standard pattern in the case of the modern-day gaming community. The publisher introduces a new paid cosmetic to generate hype, and the player base grabs the opportunity to air their displeasure over the long-running and fundamental issues. From SBMM making casual play feel like chore, rampant cheating undermining competitive integrity, to basic console stability problems, the Scorn reveal tweet became an unintended suggestion box. A very, very angry suggestion box.
So, Scorn looks fierce. Nevertheless, the reaction indicates that quite a few Call of Duty players feel scorned as well—by matchmaking, by cheaters, by bugs. The new skin might be released, but the community’s message is loud and clear: if you want to gain respect, then just fix the game foundation. Only then might they pay attention to the fancy armor plating. Until then, the grind—and the grumbling—continues.
