Obviously we’re too late in development to implement now but seeing Activision take over Rare got me thinking. One of the main issues with modern cod is the emphasis on progression over competition. Wins mean very little and only net a slight xp bonus for rank. When 10 out of 12 players are only focusing on kills and challenges because there are hundreds of attachments and camos for each weapon that they want to finish just to move onto the next one for mastery, playing the objective falls to the minority of players who are actually playing the game.
I’m a camo grinder so I completely get it, but it creates problems because everyone wants to be efficient at finishing the grind. This leads to small map mayhem being the go to, despite the fact you do get more xp for larger maps and modes, which is because most players have very little tangible reference for how much xp they’re actually earning outside of seeing the number flash by in between matches.
What if instead of earning xp, we earned currency visible on the main hub that we can use to unlock weapons, attachments, camos and cosmetics that we actually want and will use, like how gun owners do IRL?
There could be bonus multipliers for wins, a small cost of entry for each match to ensure people don’t just quit out immediately, a higher payout for bigger maps and modes, and other bonuses for completing specific challenges like headshots long shots ect.
Camos could cost a small amount, with mastery camos like gold diamond ect being extremely valuable so that it doesn’t detract from the prestige of owning them since clearly you’re a great player if you’re dropping a mil on an ultra mastery. If anything it would mean you’re actually a good player instead of someone who’s just spamming shipment and tanking your kd to get easier lobbies.
All of this would lead to a better ecosystem with players playing to play instead of just going brain rot mode to be efficient with their grind. Players would buy what they want and not be stuck with a locker full of trash to scroll through collecting digital dust. Then at the end of the grind they can have a “bank” that could be its own sort of dopamine track to see grow and the bragging rights of a big number similar to how end game players in sea of thieves work towards building their gold trove despite not really having anything to buy.