Activision may be up to another controversy with the recent introduction of alleged Modern Warfare 2 pay-to-win elements. During season 5, the developers added a couple of purchase options that the community is deeming as giving spending players a clear advantage over the rest, even if they won’t magically make anyone a better player out of the blue.

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News of these pay-to-win Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 perks started growing on YouTube, with TheXclusiveAce and LegoUnlocked being two of the most vocal players about these controversial changes.

The first item that may give you an advantage comes with the purchase of the Dark Rituals 3 bundle. It is the Death’s Door battle riffle and the impressive thing about it is that the holotherm is extremely superior in comparison to the default one. The new Holotherm scope highlights the targets in bright red colors, making them a lot easier to see at a distance; when using in long range, the difference between the two scopes is even more pronounced, with an increased ease of spotting enemies and vehicles from afar.

The other alleged Modern Warfare 2 pay-to-win item is Merlin, the dog. While it isn’t bound to operative Arthur – any operator may use Merlin if you buy the Blackcell Battle Pass, you just have to equip the finishing move with the dog – it nonetheless remains a noticeable perk. The way Merlin works is the following: when you have the High Alert perk and it is fully charged, the dog will growl whenever an enemy looks at you within 100 meters. This audio cue will catch your attention and make you even more aware that you have been spotted, so it’s impossible to ignore how helpful this can be. However, the enemy must be directly facing you, otherwise Merlin won’t growl.

Important to note that this isn’t the first time Activision pulled something like this. Back in April, Activision did something similar to it with Active Duty Slots Operator slots, Also in May, Activision included an UAV bonus effect on a bundle that was only accessible by purchasing it with real-world money.

Just how much of a game-changer do you think these two Modern Warfare 2 elements are? Do you agree that they give you an extra benefit or, on the contrary, they are nothing particularly significant in the overall scheme of things?