Activision and audio company Embody have revealed a new audio option for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and it sounds like if you want the best chance of winning in the game’s multiplayer modes, you’ll want to fork out some extra cash.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Embody introduces the “Enhanced Headphone Mode” option, which offers two further choices: Universal Profile or Personalized Profile. Universal Profile is free to all players (on certain platforms, that is), while Personalized Profile costs $19.99 “for five years”.
Embody says that Personalized Profile will be “customized to your unique physiology”, ensuring that “every sound is balanced with precision in the 3D soundworld”.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about the Embody partnership or the different audio profile options; Activision outlined Black Ops 6‘s audio features earlier this month, although the studio did neglect to mention that Personalized Profile would be a paid feature.
The potential competitive advantage offered by superior audio in a game where hearing every shot and footstep is crucial should be fairly obvious.
Assuming Personalized Profile really is superior, it seems a touch fishy to be offering players the chance to gain said competitive advantage by paying an extra fee. I’m pretty sure there’s a phrase we tend to use for that.
Alternatively, of course, if the competitive advantage offered by Personalized Profile is relatively slight, then one rather wonders what the point in paying for it is.
If you’re interested, it’ll be available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, so last-gen players will miss out. Crossplay is supported, though, so if you’re playing on PS4 or Xbox One, I guess you’ll just have to deal with facing players who have inherently better audio than you.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox on October 25th. It’s also launching on day one across certain tiers of Xbox Game Pass.
