A controversial skin in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is slated to get pulled following community backlash over visual issues with the buyable cosmetic.
Earlier this month, Modern Warfare III players expressed frustration over a skin that was first introduced in 2022’s Modern Warfare II. The Gaia skin, an unlockable cosmetic for the operator Nila “Nova” Brown, was dubbed “literally invisible” due to its colors and textures, all of which look eerily similar to Marvel’s walking tree dude (hence the “Groot” nickname). After players begged for developer Sledgehammer Games to remove the skin on X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, and elsewhere, the studio is answering the call, announcing during a November 19 Reddit AMA that an upcoming update will temporarily remove the cosmetic.
“Adjustments to Gaia and Gaia Blackcell Operator Skins are in the pipeline for Modern Warfare III,” the studio said in response to a fan. “In a future game update, we’ll disable this item until said changes can be released to all players.”
It’s unclear how Sledgehammer Games intends to rework the Groot skin (or when that “future” update will take place), but we can safely assume the team will make it more visible in-game. Right now, it’s difficult to spot someone wearing the skin in a match thanks to its brown, green, and red color palette, and see-through, branch-like limbs. Gaia’s colors and textures make it especially hard to see on the muddier, duller Modern Warfare III maps, of which there are several. As such, its existence led to many within the community labeling it as both “broken” and “pay-to-win.”
Kotaku reached out to Activision for comment.
The Groot skin isn’t the only issue Modern Warfare III players have with the game. Aside from its short campaign that mostly sucks, the game’s caught flack for its abysmal spawn locations (which have been referred to as “death pits” and temporarily removed) and folks are once again debating the merits of skill-based matchmaking. Yawn.
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