Call of Duty has released a new weapon skin that lets you cook and eat a whole chicken in COD Mobile, and Fortnite has been catching the blame for causing damage to the “art style” of multiplayer games since its popularity.
The ‘Extra Crispy’ bundle in COD Mobile features a gun blueprint that, when inspected, pulls out a chicken which is attached to the end of the gun, cooked, and then eaten by your character.
It’s one of the more outlandish cosmetic features in the game, which has regularly received complaints for failing to remain “authentic” or “realistic”, and has launched a huge debate online over whether these kinds of cosmetics have a place in Call of Duty.
One player, though, put their opinion very plainly: “The damage Fortnite has unintentionally done to the multiplayer game aesthetic is unrepairable,” said Kelski on Twitter/X.
“Let’s keep giving every game wacky and zany cosmetics like this until it’s all just a big blog of indistinguishable mush. Who needs a consistent art style, right?”
Ahh yes, let's keep giving every game wacky and zany cosmetics like this until it's all just a big blog of indistinguishable mushWho needs a consistent art style right
— Kelski (@kelskiYT) July 2, 2024
This post was met with many in agreement, who called for Call of Duty to tone it down a little. “Agreed, stick to your own style,” one response said. “Everyone is now trying to come up with their own gimmick and they are losing the soul of what made their original games great to begin with. It’s obnoxious.”
Another echoed that sentiment, saying: “They’re trying too hard to appeal to children. But they’re ruining everything.”
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Some, though, said that Call of Duty players themselves are to blame for this — and that it’s not entirely a new thing in COD anyway.
“Advanced Warfare, BO3, and other CODs all had goofy aesthetics to them years before Fortnite, this is on brand for them,” explained tylerduran21.
Advanced Warfare, BO3 and other cods all had goofy aesthetics to them YEARS before Fortnite, this is on brand for them. (1st one is a map where your characters are action figure sized playing in a backyard BBQ) pic.twitter.com/2dAxkbyb1S
— ً (@tylerduran21) July 2, 2024
Another player added: “It’s not Fortnite’s fault, it’s the culture of copying popular things that did the damage, within COD’s development,” while one simply said: “COD players bought goofy skins so they made goofy skins.”
Call of Duty has been regularly bringing out these kinds of cosmetics that some argue break the realism barrier too much, including multiple full-size operator outfits that let you traverse the battlefield as a rat, or a dog, or as Nicki Minaj, among many others.
If you have bought these skins, though, at least you’ll be able to carry them forward into Black Ops 6.