Activision Changes Double XP Tokens to Count Only In-Game Time Ahead of MW4
The change addresses a long-standing complaint that tokens wasted time spent in menus or lobbies, not just active matches.
Activision has changed how double XP tokens work in Call of Duty so they now count down only during active gameplay, not real-world time, ahead of Modern Warfare 4's launch next month.
The company revealed the change today, calling it "a good change, full stop."
Double XP tokens have been a big part of CoD for the better part of a decade, allowing players to unlock weapons and attachments faster and level up through Prestige quicker.
They always counted down using real-world time, which meant "every second sitting in a lobby, or at the main menu when running to the bathroom, was wasted."
Last week, Activision revealed it would be adding a toggle to only display MW4 operators in Warzone to avoid having to see silly collab skins.
The changes come after Modern Warfare 4's beta had a lukewarm reception at best earlier this summer.
It is also not much of a secret that Black Ops 7 did not perform well sales-wise in the eyes of the company.
Activision must be feeling the need to really give players what they’re looking for to try and get them back.
CoD has dominated the casual games market for so long that it didn’t really need to innovate or give in to every complaint.
Last year, CoD directly addressed skill-based matchmaking in BO7 with Battlefield 6 dropping close by.
Now, with Grand Theft Auto 6 on the horizon, Activision knows that it needs to somehow drag people out of Vice City and keep them spending on CoD.
The same gamers who buy the new CoD every year are likely all waiting for GTA 6, along with the majority of gamers everywhere, if pre-order estimates are anything to go by.
The biggest thing that will make or break MW4 this year is its DMZ game type.
The extraction mode hasn’t shown much of anything yet, but it was a big hit in Modern Warfare 2 (2022) with its beta version.
The mode popularized by Escape From Tarkov has since widened with titles like ARC Raiders and Marathon, and it could be a big separator for MW4 the same way that Zombies mode is for Black Ops titles.
DMZ will likely get a showcase or some sort of reveal before MW4 launches on Oct. 23.
Activision plans on continuously dropping good news every week from now until then.