Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 locks launch goodies to PlayStation players
PlayStation players can grab a bunch of Modern Warfare 2 goodies, but Xbox users are left out in the cold
➡ The Shortcut Skinny: Exclusive MW2 treats
🍪 PlayStation players can grab exclusive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 treats
💪 Extra loadout slots and seasonal bundles are up for grabs
🤗 Xbox players don’t get the goodies, but at least they can play every game mode
🕴 Microsoft’s proposed buyout of Activision Blizzard has thrown the future Call of Duty exclusivity up in the air
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is here, but a stack of in-game content is locked off to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S console owners.
Continuing the trend of the last few years, PlayStation users have been given a heap of post-launch treats to enjoy. As the Call of Duty website outlines, anyone playing Modern Warfare 2 on PS5 or PS4 will be given two extra loadout slots, an instant five-tier skip on the battle pass, and +25% bonus weapon XP when playing together in parties.
Those bonuses will keep coming, too. Each month, a 24-hour double XP event will let PlayStation players boost their rank faster, while a free in-game bundle will drop new operators, weapons, and emblems at the start of each Modern Warfare 2 season.
As for Xbox players – zilch. Sony’s been able to bag the freebies because of an exclusivity deal it signed with Activision way back in 2015. Since then, PlayStation players have enjoyed early access to new Call of Duty features, exclusive in-game items, and first dibs on map packs.
Call of Duty: Vanguard was released last year with a similar slate of PlayStation-only goodies, as did Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War the year before. Some fans have tended to be a little salty that PlayStation players are given advantages that will let them rank up faster than their fellow Xbox players.
But these Modern Warfare 2 exclusives are pretty meager in comparison to those of past years. When Black Ops Cold War launched, its co-op Zombies Onslaught mode was locked to PlayStation users for an entire year. Fortunately, no game modes are being closed off from Xbox players this time around.
The future of Call of Duty’s exclusivity is uncertain in light of Microsoft’s bid to acquire Activision Blizzard. Sony really doesn’t want Microsoft to own the series, fearing it will make the best-selling blockbuster franchise exclusive to Xbox consoles. Microsoft previously committed to keeping the franchise multiplatform for three years if the deal goes through, but PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan described that plan as “inadequate on many levels.”
If the proposed acquisition does go through, the current wave of PlayStation-exclusive Call of Duty content will end. In fact, the series will come to Xbox Game Pass.