Call of Duty has faced mounting criticism in recent years for introducing pay-to-win elements. Many complaints have focussed on operator skins. Most notably, Modern Warfare (2019) saw the release of the infamous Rook skin for Roze. It was borderline invisible in dimly lit areas and provided a blatant tactical advantage. With the launch of Modern Warfare II and Warzone Season 06, a new skin dubbed “Groot” by players is being similarly panned by players.
The skin, which resembles Marvel’s popular sentient tree and falls under the Nova operator, is officially called “Gaia”. It was introduced to Warzone as part of the Season 06 Battle Pass and is unlocked as the final reward for sector F11.
Since its release, it has come under significant criticism from frustrated players due to its questionable design. Gaia, like Groot, is a tree-like humanoid. Roots and branches make up its entire body, which features large gaps revealing a glowing nervous system beneath.
These gaps render the skin almost invisible in both bright and dark environments due to the way they distort light and the skin’s overall appearance. Similarly, some players have mistaken it for being a texture glitch and called it distracting and confusing. While there is a BlackCell variant – “Gaia BlackCell” – that skin features a large glowing flame at its core and is far easier to see.
Warzone players have taken to social media to voice their concerns about the skin and it’s hard to disagree.
Warzone Groot skin called “broken”, “worse than Roze” and “pay to win”
On Reddit, the Warzone Groot skin in facing uproar from the Call of Duty community.
u/No_Reflection1 said the skin “is so broken [it’s] not even funny”, while u/korisue called it “op trash”. Others believe the skin undermines competitiveness in Warzone. “They don’t actually care about competitiveness, just money”, said u/Erosdie.
In arguably the most scathing criticism of the skin, u/bupivacaine called Gaia “one of the most intentionally broken features we’ve seen in a long time” and “worse than Roze ever was”.
Over on X (formerly Twitter), veteran Call of Duty player @Parasite commented on the situation stating that “The Groot skin in CoD needs to go or be [adjusted] for visibility”.
It remains to be seen how Activision will respond to these complaints. After endless criticism, Roze’s “Rook” skin was eventually nerfed and its popularity fell dramatically. For this reason, it’s unlikely Gaia will be adjusted any time soon. Activision will be no doubt pleased to see players purchasing the Battle Pass to unlock the Warzone “Groot” skin.
Sadly, it is the game’s competitive modes that will suffer. If this Gaia skin provides such an immense advantage, it surely has no place in Ranked Play where wins and losses really matter. Therefore, the most logical solution would be to tweak the skin to increase its visibility or ban it all together. But when money is involved, things are rarely that simple.
What are your thoughts on the Warzone Groot skin? Do you think it needs to be adjusted? Let us know in the comment section below and don’t forget to check out our other gaming articles…
