Activision Hands Out 20 Free Tier Skips in Warzone and Black Ops 6 – Fans React with Skepticism

Activision has sparked heated debate in the Call of Duty community after dropping a massive freebie bundle for Warzone and Black Ops 6 players: 20 battle pass tier skips and 15 double XP tokens. While the publisher framed the handout as a celebratory gesture tied to the reveal of Black Ops 7, the community’s reaction has been far more complex than simple gratitude.

On the surface, this seems like a win for players.

Skipping 20 tiers in the battle pass can mean unlocking rare cosmetics and powerful blueprints without the grind, while the XP tokens accelerate progression across multiplayer and Warzone. Yet many fans weren’t entirely convinced of Activision’s motives. The announcement quickly filled with comments ranging from cynicism about Call of Duty’s future to accusations that the free content is less about generosity and more about keeping attention away from competitors like Battlefield.

Some players expressed outright frustration, particularly those who had just spent money on tier skips. For them, Activision’s timing felt almost insulting. Others argued that the handout was a thinly veiled attempt to bring lapsed players back, pointing to the well-worn “dead game” discourse that pops up every season. A more optimistic crowd, however, shrugged off the skepticism and welcomed the freebies, noting that it’s not unusual for Activision to give away tokens and skips at the midpoint of a season. In fact, around the same time last year, players received 10 skips and 20 tokens with the Season 5 Reloaded patch.

This year’s Season 05 Reloaded update goes live on September 4, bringing plenty of fresh content: a new multiplayer map, new and returning modes, weapons, limited-time events, and even a new Zombies mode called Reckoning Directed. Activision has also cautioned that the download will be larger than usual due to internal reorganization of Call of Duty’s massive file structure – a move meant to streamline things ahead of the Black Ops 7 beta, which launches on October 2. Whether that means file sizes will finally shrink remains an open question, but fans are certainly hoping for relief from the franchise’s notorious storage demands.

To soften the blow of yet another hefty download, Activision is also offering a separate thank-you pack of double XP tokens for anyone who installs the patch and logs in between September 4 and October 1. That gesture is bundled alongside the larger news cycle surrounding Call of Duty, which recently saw Paramount confirm a live-action film in development and Treyarch announce that outlandish crossover skins won’t carry forward into Black Ops 7 at launch.

All told, the 20 tier skips and XP tokens reflect both Activision’s marketing strategy and its delicate balancing act with a sometimes skeptical but always passionate fanbase. For players, the freebies are real enough, but the bigger story is how they fit into the shifting landscape of Call of Duty – and how rival franchises like Battlefield may be nudging Activision into more player-friendly moves.