Call of Duty faces yet another plagiarism accusation over ‘Doomsayer’ skin

Heel vs. Heel program

Mere weeks from the Loyal Samoyed controversy, Activision Blizzard is at the center of another plagiarism controversy pertaining to its military shooter franchise, Call of Duty. And oncဣe again, the accusations are pointing toward a brand new, but famili🔜ar-looking, character skin.

, the new plagiarism allegations are aimed at Call of Duty: Vanguard DLC skin “Doomsayer,” a frighteningly imposing figure bedecked in black, full-body tactical armor, a grim reaper-style hood, and one of those wanky digital facemasks then were popular for a hot minute at comic-book conventions. The programmable faceplate sports a grimacing skull, a common design for the billion-dollar franchise.

Ha🅠ve you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?

Shut down their sys🏅tems with the Malware Ultra Skin Bundle, availab𒁃le now in and .

— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty)

However, several parties have noted that the skin bears a striking resemblance to a skin previously teased for the still-in-development shooter Deadrop. Deadrop, as you may or may not know, is the NFT-based first-person shooter currently in development at fledgling studio Midnight Society, which was founded last year by controversial streamer Guy “Dr. Disrespect” Beahm.

The teased skin has been featured by Deadrop developer and Midnight Society studio head Robert Bowling, and veteran FPS developer who has previously worked with Infinity Ward on titles in the Call of Duty franchise. Bowling’s responded to the reveal of the Doomsayer skin on Twitter, “At least name it after me.” Call of Duty‘s recurring character “Ghost” frequently adorns skull-based facial disguises, which sets a precedent for the Doomsayer look. But still, it’s undeniably uncanny.

The Variant database is LIVE!

Acceptance emails have been going out all day. Those accepted can log into their accounts between July 5th – 7th to claim their Access Pass, view their traits, and soon download game builds.

Accessing

— Robert Bowling (@fourzerotwo)

As mentioned at the start of the article, this new controversy comes just a fortnight after Activision Blizzard pulled another Call of Duty skin, Loyal Samoyed, after the publisher was accused of stealing the design of fan artist and CoD player Sail Lin, whose “Monster Army” project features a wide range of anthropomorphic CoD character concepts, inc🍰luding a Samoyed medic in almost identical fatigues.

[Polygon]