COD Black Ops 6 under fire for ‘pay-to-win’ audio subscription

As the release date for Call of Duty Black Ops 6 dawns closer, the community is left in conflict with a new paid audio profile subscription that costs $20 or Rs 1,500 and fans are calling it pay-to-win. This news has now created a controversy regarding people having an audio advantage over others who are playing on basic audio.

One of the most important features in competitive games like COD, Counter-Strike, Fortnite, and others is audio, which is important for locating opponents and making tactical decisions. A feature like customizing audio behind a paywall is creating doubts about Black Ops 6 which was highly praised during beta.

What is the Embody audio subscription in Black Ops 6?

The new ‘Enhanced Headphone Mode’ comes after a partnership between Activision and Embody. As per the description, the feature allows players to increase the directional accuracy of sounds for better details. This isn’t the first time Embody has created a custom audio profile, as there is also one available for Cyberpunk 2077.

What’s interesting here is the move to have one for a competitive game like COD Black Ops 6. The announcement reveals two options, one is the free tier with a universal profile while the other one is a five-year subscription for personalised profile costing $20 or Rs 1,500 with a 30-day trial.

“Enhanced Headphone Mode makes use of Embody's Immerse Spatial Audio technology to increase the directional accuracy of sounds played in the world. Immerse Spatial Audio is compatible with any headphone or earbud model and greatly improves the player’s spatial audio experience,” an official COD blog wrote.

As of now, every speculation regarding the ‘pay-to-win’ feature is yet to be tested on how effective it is after the game releases. However, even after improving the audio, having a paid option for even better audio does raise a lot of questions.

Huge backlash from the community

The community backlash began immediately after the announcement of ‘Enhanced Headphone Mode’ and the reaction was actually justified. While some are waiting to test it out before coming to a conclusion, many believe that it will likely provide an advantage over the universal profile.