Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 gets microtransactions

Dramatic reenactment: "Eighth game in as many years?" "Yep." Offer pre-orders for the season pass?" "Already printing the posters." "Change zombies mode?" "We added a bus." "Damn. What else could we do to make gamers irrationally angry?" "Well, there's one thing we've yet to try..."

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will get microtransactions later this week on Xbox 360, Activision blogger Dan Amrich revealed today. The small purchases which range from $1 to $5 offer various upgrades, from additional weapon skins to extra create-a-class slots.

Of particular note are the Personalization Packs, which offer up a unique weapon camo, new targeting reticles, and a custom calling card--each for 160 Microsoft points. Ever want to wrap your preferred firearm in your preferred breakfast meat? Invest in the Bacon Personalization Pack. Nation-specific calling cards will also be available in regional packs for 80 MSP.

Treyarch will offer more nuts and bolts microtransactions, such as extra create-a-class slots and media storage for 160 MSP, and Nuketown Zombies for non-limited-edition players for 400 MSP.

Finally, a freebie: the original Nuketown is now unlocked for all Xbox players--these updates are planned for other consoles as well, but Activision has not given any indication of when they'll appear.

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.