Just a few weeks after being accused of stealing an artists’ dog skin concept, Activision is being accused of possibly copying yet another existing skin design in Call of Duty.
Earlier this week, Call of Duty officially announced the Malware Ultra Skin Bundle on Twitter, showcasing the Doomsayer skin for Shigenori Ota. While some in the game’s community initially reacted with interest in the new skin, others noticed some striking similarities to existing skins in other games.
Doomsayer has a hood over his glowing skull-themed helmet and hefty black armor. It’s definitely a striking look, but it may not have been originally created by designers at Activision.
Almost immediately, a handful of Call of Duty fans replied that the Doomsayer skin is nothing new. Some instantly thought of a cosmetic revealed for the game DEADROP in July. DEADROP is being developed by Midnight Society, a new studio co-founded by Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm and Robert Bowling, both of whom used to work for Infinity Ward.
The skins have a lot of similarities when viewed together. Both have a glowing blue skull on their helmet, an oversized black hood, and clunky black armor with similar shapes and patterns. Many were convinced right away that Activision had at least taken strong inspiration from the new DEADROP skin.
It was so similar, in fact, that Bowling himself commented on the situation. On Twitter, he tweeted that the skin should be named after him.
But did Activision actually steal the skin design from DEADROP? Call of Duty has a character known as Simon “Ghost” Riley, an operator who has been depicted with a skull face and hood in previous Call of Duty games. Then in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, operator Weaver received a skin with a glowing skull called Disciple of the Dark Aether. LED-detailed skins are nothing new in Call of Duty, so could the Doomsayer skin just be another part of that aesthetic?
Activision has yet to respond to the stealing accusations.
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