Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 gets duplicate-protected loot boxes Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 gets duplicate-protected loot boxes And they're not… terrible. News by Wesley Yin-Poole Deputy Editorial Director Updated on 2 Jul 2019 15 comments Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 now has duplicated protected loot boxes. Dupe-protected crates, as they're called in-game, were added to the Black Market yesterday, 1st July. They contain three duplicate-protected items from the reserves pool, but you're protected against getting duplicates. Black Ops 4's standard loot boxes have a chance of spitting out a duplicate item, much to the annoyance of players. With standard loot boxes, if you get three duplicates, you get a re-roll. So, duplicate-protected loot boxes are welcome. What's interesting, too, is they have to be earned. Currently, there's no way for you to pay real-world money for the duplicate-protected loot boxes. Instead, you have to trade in six regular cases to get one duplicate-protected loot box. Cases are earned through gameplay - from ranking up the reserve case wheel (you get one for roughly every hour of play) and completing the recently-added contracts. The deal seems good on the face of it. With a case there's a decent chance of getting a duplicate item. Trading in six of these for three duplicate-protected items is a no brainer, really. What we have here - it seems - is an update to Black Ops 4 that does not appear to be awful. After nearly a year spent reporting on grim after grim microtransaction additions to Treyarch's shooter, here we have an addition that feels good because it's not disgusting. Questions remain. Are the duplicate-protected crates a permanent addition to the game? Treyarch hasn't mentioned them before and still hasn't. Hopefully they're not tied to a limited-time event. And how will they work with the new Ultra Weapon Bribes, which guarantee players a weapon they don't have? For now, we have something relatively positive to report about Black Ops 4, which is a rare thing. Loot boxes are inherently problematic, even if you can't buy them, you shouldn't get duplicates in the first place, and the way you earn items generally in Black Ops 4 is pretty bad, but for Call of Duty, this is certainly a positive step. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Modder dives into Demon's Souls files following PS5 jailbreak, discovers fabled Ring of the Chieftain Who knows what's nexus? 5 Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 11 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store