Call of Duty players have a welcome surprise today after Activision handed out a whopping 20 free battle pass tier skips to Warzone and Black Ops 6 players.
In a social media post, below, Activision said the free handout was “in celebration” of the Black Ops 7 reveal. But Call of Duty fans are entirely more sceptical, based on the replies to the social media announcement.
Comments include everything from the typical “dead game” accusations having sparked the generous offer to convince lapsed players to return to the game, to pressure from Battlefield 6 forcing Activision into more pro-consumer behavior.
There’s also a degree of frustration from some who had just spent money to unlock tier skips before this announcement. And there are of course plenty of fans who are just happy to get free stuff.
Has the player retention been THAT bad this season 😭🙏
— Reality (@realityuk) September 2, 2025
In truth, Activision has handed out free tier skips and XP tokens before. Indeed, around this time last year it gave 10 tier skips and 20 XP tokens to players who downloaded last year’s Season 5 Reloaded update.
Whatever the case, this year’s Season 05 Reloaded launches on September 4. It adds a new Multiplayer map, new and returning modes, new armaments, events, Reckoning Directed Mode in Zombies, and more.
In a blog post, Activision warned that the Season 5 Reloaded download will be larger on some platforms, and blamed it on “reorganizing” Call of Duty content to prepare for the Black Ops 7 beta on October 2. Does that mean Call of Duty’s infamous file size will shrink for this year’s game?
As a “thank you” for downloading the update (how big is it going to be?!), Activision is gifting players a pack of 2XP Tokens across all platforms. Players who complete the download and log into Call of Duty from 10am PT on September 4 until October 1 will receive:
- Five 1-Hour Double Player XP Tokens (5 hours total)
- Five 1-Hour Double Weapon XP Tokens (5 hours total)
- Five 1-Hour Double Battle Pass XP Tokens (5 hours total)
There’s a lot happening in the world of Call of Duty. We just got the announcement of a Call of Duty live-action movie from Paramount, and last month a U-turn on goofy skins for Black Ops 7’s launch, which won’t see a carry forward option for cosmetics.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
