The Call of Duty universe does not seem to care much about the holidays! Since Activision has released a huge Christmas update for Black Ops 7 and Call of Duty: Warzone, it seems that the holidays would not only be coming but also chaos would persist throughout the season. The official Call of Duty account tweeted the update with a happy tree emoji and announced it ‘available now’ for the players. Just looking through the replies, one gets the feeling of a totally different vibe – it’s like getting a shiny gift and discovering it’s socks. Again!

With the update also being rolled out, we are anticipating the same old holiday touch: maybe snowball fights, new maps with holiday theme, abundant cosmetics and challenges and much more. They want you to log in, get your soul uplifted with some holiday spirit, and probably buy cool winter camo. Yet, player response has been a jar of mixed coal, truthfully. A lot of gamers simply have no intention of celebrating Christmas in this way this year.

As soon as it was available, the complaints started and one player, DWorc, was very direct: ‘Sorry, but BO7 is just trash. I paid too much for a slow movement game with recycled maps, there are not enough players to fill fun games like gun game.’ Oooh! That’s really not what we call ‘joy to the world.’ Another player, Oldy7519, first mentioned the issues one by one, in quite an exaggerated way: ‘Console stutter/desync, boring gameplay, slow movement, shit aiming, rubbish boring maps… worst COD ever.’ That’s pretty harsh for a game that is in the middle of its annual Christmas season celebration.

In addition, it is not just a case of general dislike. Gamers are pointing out specific bugs that are creating a gloomy atmosphere. DonBZW asked, ‘Where is Holiday Rush?’ implying that a certain mode may have been discontinued. Another player, MorraRocky, complained, ‘Hard-core sleigh jacked doesn’t count to the event progress.’ So they are putting in a lot of effort but getting no credit? That is such a downer. Another user, Caipirots, mentioned the devs and said, ‘the progress for the overclock on the stim isn’t working.’ It is like the update not only brought new features but also a bunch of problems wrapped up in a ribbon.

Next, we will talk about nostalgia or the lack of it, to be more accurate. Some players are actually asking for the old stuff. ‘No nuketown holiday? Lol stupid,’ patrickbaty10 wrote. RefundBlackOps7, one of the players, was almost begging: ‘We need our bo6 Christmas stuff in bo7 especially Christmas Weaver like wtf.’ Apparently, not all the beloved holiday treats from previous games made it to the new ones, and the gamers are aware of it. Even the rewards are being criticized. N3OCK1 made an acutely pointed comment, saying, ‘Camos are a lame reward to always give. You should know that by now.’ Can’t satisfy everyone but still, wow!

Wait a minute, what was my point again? Oh yes, the turmoil. There’s this odd thread even where players are helping each other in solving a challenge. IbrutalzV was unsure, ‘For the list keepers challenge what do I do for the box mercy and death challenge? It makes no sense,’ and CG3bowling, another player, was trying to help with ‘Get 100 kills with a weapon out of the mystery box.’ It’s an entire situation. Of course, there will be those who will discuss technical disasters. Posting furious replies and screenshots has become a habit for no one other than St_JackyG, who also said they’ve done everything support asked and still can’t play BO7 on PS5, ending with ‘STOP FORCING US INTO BUYING BO7 AND GIMME MY GAME BACK!!!!!!’ The use of all caps shows they are really serious.

However, there is a bright side! Daresay it, maybe only a few sources, as always, who are brave enough to say anything but good. dthnocommentary when pointing out the fact that ‘yes can’t wait for the snow fight!!’ was already a little beyond just to the point. The total frenzy… the fan account of Warzone, on the other hand, shared its excitement through a video and tagged it with ‘THIS is the holiday spirit.’ Thus, the spirit is there… just beneath a pile of complaints about micro stutters, hidden modes, and broken challenges. A classic moment of the Call of Duty community, if you will.

So, what is the final verdict? The festive patch for Black Ops 7 and Warzone has been issued with the hope of sharing the joy of the season in multiplayer. Regrettably, a large segment of gamers is facing difficulties with bugs, lack of features, and issues on their Xbox and other platforms.