Recently, Call of Duty fans were wrestling with the revelation that they could pay real-world money in Black Ops 6 for more effective audio. It was a topic of immediate interest that sent some players into a frenzy, with claims of ‘pay-to-hear’ surfacing across social media.
It’s a little simpler than that, though.
Can You Pay For Better Audio in Black Ops 6?
Okay, yes – you can pay for better audio in Black Ops 6, but it’s not as scandalous as it might seem at first blush.
Enter Embody, a ‘personalised spatial audio’ company with a mission to provide you with the best and most accurate ‘3D sound’ possible in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Recently, the company announced a premium offering that would align gamers with a ‘personalised profile’ to the tune of $19.99.
And that’s where the pay-to-hear concept comes from.
Every player accessing Black Ops 6 can access a universal profile build by Embody and leaning on the ‘Immerse Spatial Audio’ system for free. It’s as simple as navigating to the sound settings menu in-game and selecting ‘Enhanced Headphone Mode’.
If you’d rather go above and beyond and secure a personalised profile that’s mapped to your physiology, you can pay $19.99 and grab the ‘Immerse Gamepack’. For that transaction, you’ll secure access to Embody’s system for a whopping five years. At $4 a year, that’s not a bad deal, but it’s enough to rub some players the wrong way.
This arrangement is available on Xbox Series XS, PlayStation, and PC (Steam, Battlenet, and Microsoft Store). It’s easier to access on PC platforms, but if you’re on a console, you just need to purchase the add-on in-game.
If it wasn’t already obvious, this is only useful for those playing Black Ops 6 with a headset on.
One of the most talked-about aspects of Black Ops 6 is the reactive, dynamic, and spatial audio. It has been boosted monumentally to allow sounds to adjust based on your local environment, and Embody has been kind enough to give everyone a nice, new profile for free.
It’s up to you if you want to pay $19.99 to get a better experience, of course.
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