Proof Warzone Is A Pay-To-Win Game

People tend to really hate pay-to-win mechanics in games. It just sours the experience for many people when other players can purchase the gear or skills necessary to mow down the competition. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was a notable example of a game that charged for loot boxes that could help give players an edge against the competition. The outrage over those microtransactions led to them being (mostly) removed from the game. 

Now, a Call of Duty: Warzone player has managed to pull off a rather ingenious method of winning a match that pretty much counts as paying to win. However, unlike many other pay-to-win scenarios you may have seen in the past, this particular case feels strangely okay. It even feels earned by the player's skill, which is something you can't say about most situations similar to this.

In a video clip shared to Reddit, a user by the name of schmayward showed off an interesting strategy that came to them while pinned down at the end of a match. With several other players still in the game and the match ending gas growing ever closer, this player decided against taking a final, futile stand. Rather than attempt to outrun the gas or outgun their opponents, schmayward instead posted up next to one of the game's Buy Stations. There, the player sat in the middle of the gas where no one in their right mind would follow them, and proceeded to purchase one gas mask after another.

Schmayward had apparently looted plenty of Warzone's in-game cash from fallen enemies and chests scattered around the battlefield, so technically they weren't spending any real world money. As the other players succumbed to the gas one by one, schmayward continued purchasing and using gas masks to outlast his enemies. 

The comments in the thread are split between people who feel like this is an unfair win or not. One player asked, "Anyone else think the shop should be disabled once it's in the gas?"

In response, another player wrote, "Nah....I think what [schmayward] did was a valid play and it did close as soon as soon as gas closed all the way." In other words, it's a very unorthodox way to win, but it's still within the rules of the game.

At the very least, this strategy appears to be more sportsmanlike than some of the other exploits that have been discovered in Call of Duty: Warzone. Infinity Ward has recently reaffirmed its commitment to ousting cheaters from its games, but there are other devious workarounds that players have discovered. 

Shortly after the game launched, more than a few players discovered a sneaky trick that gave them an early lead in matches. While parachuting into the field of play, players would cut their chute long enough to squeeze off a few shots at other players on parachutes. A few well-placed shots could kill an opponent or two before the match had even officially begun. It's unclear if that exploit has been fixed or not, but plenty of players found themselves being sent to the Gulag well before their time.

Another odd wrinkle to the game that players have been taking advantage of is just how overpowered the vehicles in the game are. For some reason, it has been possible to one-hit kill just about anyone by using a truck in Warzone. These vehicles don't even have to come in contact with opponents, either. In fact, there are a ton of clips showing players being eliminated when a truck strikes a door frame or the wall outside of the structure they're in. One player died because a truck rammed into an airplane they were inside of. The plane seemed relatively unscathed, but the player was killed instantly.

At least in this case, the winning player hasn't taken advantage of a glitch or a cheat in order to secure their victory. They simply managed to scrounge up enough of Warzone's in-game cash through their match, which takes more skill than you might believe. Unlike the parachute and vehicle exploits, this one seems like a viable strategy and it'd be difficult to blame any players who wanted to try it out. 

If nothing else, this strategy shows that there are plenty of ways to win Call of Duty: Warzone. Despite the issues some people have had with the game's custom loadouts that allow players to carry their favorite weapons into battle, firepower is clearly not the only option. Sometimes you just have to outlast and outsmart the competition.