Summary

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 players call for more realistic operator skins to be added to the game.
  • The debate around unrealistic skins has been dividing the Call of Duty community ever since 2014's Advanced Warfare.
  • Players argue that Black Ops 6 should take a more grounded approach to operator skins, while others believe they just don't sell well enough and are "boring."

Call of Duty's divisive operators have once again found themselves at the center of controversy as Black Ops 6 players call for Treyarch to take a more realistic design approach with new skins. Realism in Call of Duty has been a hot topic for many years now, and while Black Ops 6 players were hoping 2024 would be the year that saw the return of more grounded designs, recent additions to the in-game store have left fans disappointed.

The argument for and against unrealistic operator skins in Call of Duty has been raging on for years now. While titles such as 2020's Black Ops Cold War and 2023's Modern Warfare 3 are just some of the most recent entries to include outlandish operator skins, they weren't the first to do it. Call of Duty's unrealistic skins can be traced all the way back to 2014's Advanced Warfare, which allowed users to play as a gingerbread man. But over the past four or five years, Call of Duty's operator skins have become increasingly more bizarre and players seem to have had enough.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Players Want to See More Realistic Skins

Black Ops 6's new shark bundle seems to have pushed players to their limits, as multiple posts have appeared on the game's subreddit expressing disappointment with the game's lack of realism. Reddit user Sniperking187, for example, showed multiple images of what kind of operator skins they were hoping to see in Treyarch's latest shooter, while user Fit-Personality-1834 argued that Call of Duty's unrealistic skins have no place in the series, even if they have been around for the past ten years.

While both posts have thousands of upvotes, not everybody appears to be so concerned about Black Ops 6's operator skins. Reddit user Isaackym said, "These are the most boring skins. They don't sell well that's why they don't put them out." Others appear to be sick of having the same conversation every year, with user DahHorse saying, "These posts have been made every single year since Advanced Warfare. It's been 10 years gang. This stuff isn't going away."

Not only is this debate reignited year after year, it's not even the first skin controversy since Black Ops 6's release. Earlier this month, Treyarch released a vibrant new bundle that included a fluorescent green dragon skin, sending fans into a frenzy. The skin was quickly mocked by players due to its stand-out design and lack of realism, but the backlash from the community clearly hasn't made Activision rethink its approach to new bundles, as a shark skin was released just one week later.

Continued controversies surrounding operator skins don't seem to have affected the franchise though, as Activision recently confirmed that Black Ops 6 is the biggest Call of Duty game to date. According to the game's publisher, in the first 30 days of launch, Black Ops 6 has the most amount of total players, hours played, and total number of matches in the series' history, making it a record-breaking release for the studio.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Tag Page Cover Art
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Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
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Released
October 25, 2024
ESRB
Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
Developer(s)
Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher(s)
Activision
Engine
IW 9.0
Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
Cross-Platform Play
Yes - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
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Forced to go rogue. Hunted from within. This is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

Developed by Treyarch and Raven, Black Ops 6 is a spy action thriller set in the early 90s, a period of transition and upheaval in global politics, characterized by the end of the Cold War and the rise of the United States as a single superpower. With a mind-bending narrative, and unbound by the rules of engagement, this is signature Black Ops.

The Black Ops 6 Campaign provides dynamic moment-to-moment gameplay that includes a variety of play spaces with blockbuster set pieces and action-packed moments, high-stakes heists, and cloak-and-dagger spy activity.

In a best-in-class Multiplayer experience, players will test their skills across 16 new maps at launch, including 12 core 6v6 maps and 4 Strike maps that can be played 2v2 or 6v6.

Black Ops 6 also marks the epic return of Round-Based Zombies, the fan-favorite mode where players will take down hordes of the undead in two brand-new maps at launch. Post-launch, players can look forward to even more exciting maps and groundbreaking experiences dropping into both Multiplayer and Zombies.

Cross Save
Yes - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
Franchise
Call of Duty
Number of Players
1-4
Split Screen Orientation
Vertical or Horizontal
Steam Deck Compatibility
Unknown
PC Release Date
October 25, 2024
Xbox Series X|S Release Date
October 25, 2024
PS5 Release Date
October 25, 2024
Genre(s)
FPS
How Long To Beat
8 Hours
X|S Optimized
Yes
PS Plus Availability
N/A
File Size Xbox Series
216 GB (October 2024)
Local Co-Op Support
1-2 Players
OpenCritic Rating
Strong