The recent announcement of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) crossover in *Call of Duty: Black Ops 6* has sparked significant debate within the gaming community, primarily due to the high cost associated with acquiring all the crossover items. Activision unveiled the Season 02 Reloaded content, set to launch on February 20, which includes the TMNT-themed items. Each of the four turtles—Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael—comes with a premium bundle expected to cost 2,400 COD Points, or $19.99 each. This means that players looking to collect all four turtles would need to spend $80 worth of COD Points.

The Leonardo Tracer Pack is expected to cost 2,400 COD Points, or $19.99. Image credit: Activision Publishing.

In addition to the turtle bundles, Activision has introduced a premium event pass for the TMNT crossover, priced at 1,100 COD Points or $10. This pass includes exclusive cosmetics, such as Splinter, which can only be obtained through the premium track. The free track offers two Foot Clan soldier skins and other items, but it's the premium offerings that have drawn the most attention and criticism.

While the TMNT crossover focuses on cosmetics and does not affect gameplay, the community's reaction has been mixed. Many players argue that these items are easy to ignore, allowing those who wish to spend more to do so without impacting competitive play. However, the high cost of these cosmetics has led to widespread criticism of Activision's monetization strategy.

The Turtles event pass is just the second ever in Call of Duty. Image credit: Activision Publishing.

Community members have taken to social platforms to voice their frustrations. Redditor II_JangoFett_II commented, "Activision casually glossing over the fact that they want you to pay $80+ if you want the 4 Turtles, plus another $10+ if you want the TMNT event pass rewards. Call of Duty's Gross greed strikes again... DESPICABLE!" Similarly, Hipapitapotamus suggested, "Guess we can expect an event pass sold every season now. Remember when events were good and got you cool universal camos for free."

The criticism extends beyond the TMNT crossover to Activision's overall approach to monetizing *Black Ops 6*. Each season introduces a new battle pass costing 1,100 COD Points or $9.99, with a premium BlackCell version at $29.99. Additionally, there's a constant stream of cosmetics available in the store. The introduction of the premium event pass, first seen with the Squid Game crossover, has further fueled the debate.

Some players, like PunisherR35, argue that the current monetization model is excessive: "So they expect the playerbase to buy the game itself, buy the battle pass/black cell and now this? Na that's too much. If this is gonna be the norm moving forward, CoD needs to move to a FTP model (campaign, MP)." This sentiment reflects a growing frustration with the game's monetization, especially when compared to free-to-play titles like *Fortnite* and *Warzone*.

Despite the backlash, Activision and its parent company Microsoft are likely to continue their current strategy, given *Black Ops 6*'s record-breaking launch and significant sales increase over previous titles. The game set a new single-day Game Pass subscription record and saw a 60% sales jump on PlayStation and Steam compared to *Modern Warfare 3*. With such financial success, it's clear that Activision and Microsoft see no immediate need to alter their approach, despite the vocal discontent from parts of the community.