Activision accidentally sold a new crossbow for Call of Duty: Warzone and Black Ops Cold War this week that some players spent real money on – and now the company has taken it out of the game and promised refunds.
However, it was Activision’s decision to reset player progress to unlock this crossbow for free that angered the Call of Duty community.
Yesterday, March 18, a pack including a blueprint for the R1 Shadowhunter crossbow was sold in the in-game Warzone store for 1,200 COD Points (around £ 10).
Players were confused, as the new weapon was not mentioned in any patch notes. But that didn’t stop many players from buying it – even though the crossbow wasn’t usable in Warzone.
But it was usable in Black Ops Cold War. And the base version of the Crossbow was available via a challenge that, when completed, would unlock it for use. In Black Ops Cold War, the crossbow was listed as a secondary weapon in the “special” category, and you could unlock it by using a weapon with no attachments to get three medals at once, one kill in 15 separate games. And that’s exactly what Black Ops Cold War players started working towards.
Some simply purchased the bundle from the Warzone store and immediately unlocked the crossbow for use in Black Ops Cold War. Others have unlocked it for free through the Black Ops Cold War challenge. Anyway, for a while yesterday this crossbow was usable in Black Ops Cold War multiplayer and zombies. The video below, from YouTuber AC OMEGA, shows the crossbow in the zombies.
Players spent most of the day yesterday unlocking the crossbow and then leveling it up, unlocking camos along the way. Some even managed to get it to level 30.
Now Activision has taken the crossbow out of the game and has promised to reimburse those who bought the bundle.
Fixed an issue with the R1 Shadowhunter weapon spawning earlier than expected in Warzone and Black Ops Cold War.
Refunds are provided for players who purchased the bundle while it was online in the store, and the bundle and in-game challenge will return at a later date.
– Activision Assistance (@ATVIAssist) March 18, 2021
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Activision has also decided that when the crossbow is officially released, all progress towards it and with it will be reset – a decision to which the community has reacted negatively.
I have been informed that progress will not continue. We are issuing a reset of the weapon and its progress in the accounts.
Players who purchased the bundle will be refunded according to the quoted tweet.
– Josh Torres (@FoxhoundFPS) March 18, 2021
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“Yo what the hell … I’m just squealing for the last couple of hours for this fucking thing and they’re just like ‘oops, our hurt was too soon’,” wrote the redditor Cybranwarrior22.
“It sometimes becomes difficult to enjoy this game.”
“I just spent the whole afternoon unlocking this fucking thing,” says Trashboat77 before it spawned, progress would reset. “He had BETTER reflect that when he came back.”
“I was at 14/15,” Xytoup said. “I will uninstall the game if they don’t save my challenge progress.”
The reaction on social media was similar:
Is there any chance that a push will be made to keep unlock progress for people who have changed plans and have set aside time to unlock it? There was no indication that this was an unintentional addition and no communication that we were all wasting our time unlocking it once it was out.
– Xclusive Ace (@TheXclusiveAce) March 18, 2021
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How are players supposed to know if a new weapon that spawns is supposed to be there or if it’s just going to disappear (with all progress) in a few hours?
– Jim Gurmin (@JimGurmin) March 19, 2021
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Activision has yet to announce the official release date for the crossbow.
Article source https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-03-19-activision-promises-refunds-to-call-of-duty-warzone-and-black-ops-cold-war-players-after-accidentally-releasing-new-crossbow