- COD Black Ops 6 x American Dad crossover has attracted criticism from fans, who express disappointment about the quality of the skins.
- Players on Reddit called out the Stan Smith Operator in particular, pointing to its awkward design and weird proportions.
- The American Dad collaboration seems to have gone down poorly within the community, much like the Beavis and Butt-Head partnership before it.
One of the biggest points of contention surrounding Call of Duty is Activision’s attempts at following Fortnite’s successful model of pop-cultural crossovers. Since the video game’s release, Black Ops 6 has welcomed collaborations of all shapes and sizes, ranging from Seth Rogen as part of the game’s 4/20 celebrations to releasing skins based on Netflix’s Squid Game back in Season 1. This departure from the franchise’s mil-sim aesthetic has consistently drawn criticism from fans, with the latest example being the American Dad collaboration.
The animated sitcom made its Black Ops 6 debut in Season 4 Reloaded, bookending a month built around cartoon-themed crossovers. Operator skins for the show’s protagonist, Stan Smith, and his alien frenemy, Roger, were added to the game, all of which preserved the show’s distinct shading and art style.
Naturally, this clashes awkwardly with BO6’s roster of realistic Operators, and the franchise’s more grounded aesthetic in general. This alone would usually be enough to draw the community’s ire. But in this case, players seem disappointed, and even amused, by what’s being labelled as “AI slop.”
More specifically, players on Reddit are pointing and laughing at the Stan Smith ‘Crimson One’ skin, which displays the character in his signature blue suit, and it makes his exaggerated chin look even funnier. While the Operator’s animation style already ensures that it sticks out like a sore thumb, players have taken issue with the quality of the skin itself, pointing towards inaccuracies in its design.
“Stan’s model overall is just really f***ing weird, and I don’t know why they added it into the game as it is,” said a commenter under a popular Reddit post. “His fingers end at his belt line. So he just looks weird because everyone on the whole has them end at the mid thigh. I genuinely do not understand why they decided to give him the comically short arms. Even in American Dad, his fingers end at his mid thigh because that’s literally how f***ing proportions work. Even a damn cartoon, which has every right to take liberties with proportions, keeps them correct.“
Most users seemed to agree with the commenter’s frustrations, with one of them saying, “If you told me this was photoshopped or AI, I’d believe you.” The AI allegations didn’t end there and seemed to be a common complaint throughout the entire thread.
And amidst all the criticism was this comment, which sums up the general sentiment: “I don’t mind the goofy skins like some people do, but they really did not try on this. If they want to attract the Fortnite kids to COD, at least put in the level of detail Fortnite does into these skins. All the cartoon skins look like a** compared to how they should.”
Players had a similarly negative reaction to the Beavis and Butt-Head bundles released at the start of the month, meaning the American Dad crossover didn’t have the best chances of winning them over. It also didn’t help that the collaboration landed alongside some poorly-designed cel-shaded versions of BO6 maps (and Warzone’s Rebirth Island), which are frankly painful to look at.
Despite all the criticism, Activision has already revealed a new tie-in with the upcoming horror flick, I Know What You Did Last Summer, on its socials. No prizes for guessing how that one will go down among players.
With all that being said, what are your thoughts on Black Ops 6’s collaborative streak? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
