'Kindly nerf that trash into oblivion': Call of Duty's latest 'pay-to-win' skin turns you into a Groot-like tree monster that blends into the background

call of duty groot skin
(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

At least once a year, a new Call of Duty skins rolls into town looking to cause trouble. Arriving at the tail end of Modern Warfare 2's run and bleeding into last week's release of Modern Warfare 3 is Gaia, a premium skin on the Season 6 battle pass that transforms your operator into a humanoid plant monster. You get Groot-ified, essentially, and players are arguing it's an unfair advantage.

I'm inclined to agree. Groots are popping up in darn near every MW3 match I play, and I doubt coolness is the only reason it's so popular. Depending on the map, the Gaia's see-through gaps, dark brown color and orange accents create the perfect camouflage.

The effect is the most noticeable on maps like Wasteland and Estate, which feature lots of grass and fall leaves, but the advantage extends to indoor arenas with dark corners.

This skin has to be nerfed. from r/ModernWarfareIII

Interestingly, Activision has already addressed the "Groot curse" once during Season 6. Back in mid-October, the skin was patched in MW2 and Warzone to "improve visibility compensation" and "add VFX to base skin that reflects the same level of visibility as BlackCell skin." Maybe the patch helped, but to my eye the current skin is still very close to how it was presented at launch. Tweaks certainly haven't gone far enough for the community.

"The Groot curse has officially passed to MWIII and it's hasn't been even a day," wrote Reddit user marwenbhj on MW3 launch day. 

The proliferation of Groots as the new "pay-to-win" operator has been one of the most common and upvoted topics on both the Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 subreddits. I've seen a few top-voted posts that challenge readers to spot the Groot in the attached screenshot (tip: they're always in hiding in the plant) and many, many more general cries for a nerf. The whole Groot-roversy will feel familiar to CoD fans who lived through the dominant days of the all-black Roze skin in the original Warzone and Modern Warfare 2019. Activision did eventually improve the visibility of that skin, too, but not before it lived a full life as the default loadout among the sweatiest CoD players.

Seriously, Remove this skin now enough is enough with this Pay 2 win from r/ModernWarfareIII

In fact, the "premium skin as effective camouflage" has become a somewhat regular thing in CoD. Last year, it was a Call of Duty League skin with an all-black outfit. Long before that, it was a variant of an existing operator wearing a full ghillie suit. It's an interesting problem that keeps cropping up for Activision's CoD division: the studios understandably want to create a huge variety of cosmetics that add value to its premium store and battle passes just like any other live service shooter, but they keep grinding against Call of Duty's realistic art style.

It's not a problem that Fortnite shares thanks to its cartoony style, nor is it for shooters that paint enemy models with unmissable outlines, like Overwatch 2 and Halo Infinite.

Call of Duty's stewards for 2024, Sledgehammer Games, may deem it necessary to update the Gaia skin again, though I doubt that'll happen before the end of Season 6 in early December—in other words, when the popular skin goes off sale.

Morgan Park
Staff Writer

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.

Read more
Masked game leader standing on a balcony
I was wrong—Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 players are still finding fault with the Squid Game skins despite them looking cool
Squid Games soldiers in masks
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 hits peak lack of awareness with its Squid Game skins which, unfortunately, look rad as hell
Squid Games soldiers in masks
Call of Duty's $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it's doing
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover costs like $90 and even the die-hards are in shellshock: 'Cash cow-abunga!'
Spider Man shooting web
Marvel Rivals does almost everything right, but boy does its progression suck
Squirrel Girl in Marvel Rivals pulls back on her slingshot to destroy some fool with an acorn.
Marvel Rivals has some truly cursed mods, but that's what happens when you mix weirdly detailed character models with the internet
Latest in Call of Duty
A soldier looks out over the Verdansk map, as a single tear rolls down his cheek.
The original Verdansk map is returning to Call of Duty: Warzone, to celebrate which we get a soldier crying to Nat King Cole
black ops 6 season 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 has been delayed, as the devs say they're 'taking the time to deliver a great experience' for what will be a 'big moment' for Call of Duty
A zombie santa with six fingers leaps at the screen.
Call of Duty admits it's using generative AI to 'help develop some in-game assets', and suddenly all those poorly made calling cards make sense
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover costs like $90 and even the die-hards are in shellshock: 'Cash cow-abunga!'
Ghost, from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022), looks bleakly at a fellow passenger in a transport.
For COD’s sake: One player’s 763-day legal quest to make Activision unban their account ends in total success: ‘Worth the effort’
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 will let players battle on boats and bullet-trains, with the Terminator entering the fray 'shortly after launch'
Latest in News
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam