Mixer streamer and ex-CS:GO professional Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek has explained why he is not a fan of gamers expecting in-game content for free, particularly in games that cost nothing to play.
Large portions of the gaming community have been loving Call of Duty: Warzone since its March 10 launch, with the free to play battle royale being compared favorably to Blackout – the battle royale that launched as part of 2018’s Black Ops 4.
However, during a March 13 stream, shroud explained why he thinks developers asking players to purchase seasonal passes is completely fair, particularly when the game itself is free to download and play.
At the same time, he criticized players who expect in-game content to be given away completely for free.
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“What if they made a currency for this mode [Warzone] to buy skin operators and what not?” he read from a viewer. “Yeah but that kinda defeats the whole purpose of making money. There’s a battle pass, right, you can earn a lot from it.”
He went on to state that players “have to” expect to pay something somewhere, and that he “doesn’t like” it when players expect a plethora of content completely for free, especially in a game that already costs nothing to download and play.
He simultaneously commended the battle pass for its diversity of content and host of accessible skins. While some want the content completely for free, shroud seems to be of the opinion that the service being provided requires some literal payback from players.
Similarly, Grzesiek praised game developers for battle pass systems that enable players to buy subsequent passes through items earned.
For example, purchasing a Fortnite or Apex Legends battle pass will reward players with sufficient in-game currency to buy the next one without investing more real-world money. Provided they keep playing, players can acquire the battle passes at no extra cost.
While some players want to see a currency system added to Warzone, shroud clearly thinks the current system allows players to acquire in-game content while still rewarding developers for their hard work.