Call of Duty Malware skin strikes a resemblance to Midnight Society Variant

Image showing Call of Duty Malware skin and Midnight Society Variant
Credit: Activision, Midnight Society

Image showing Call of Duty Malware skin and Midnight Society Variant
Credit: Activision, Midnight Society

Since the arrival of Operators in the Call of Duty franchise, Activision has released a huge variety of skins for players to purchase and customise their favourite characters. Alongside original designs, crossovers enable fans of various movie series to drop into the action dressed as everyone ranging from Terminator to Ghostface.

With Season 5 of Warzone and Vanguard on the horizon, the publisher continues to release all kinds of new cosmetic items and skins. One recent arrival to the in-game store is the Malware bundle.

While the hooded figure looks appealing, a fan has noticed the skin strikes a heavy resemblance to a Variant from Midnight Society’s DEADROP.

Call of Duty skin looks similar to DEADROP Variant

The Malware Ultra Skin Bundle made its way to the Warzone and Vanguard stores on August 15, 2022.

Shortly afterwards, Twitter user @Mikeca64205083 noticed the skin looks extremely similar to the Variant owned by Midnight Society studio head and former Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling.

Although the two designs share plenty of similarities, some fans claim it’s a coincidence suggesting both use a generic look inspired by the sci-fi genre. One fan says there’s a “very close resemblance” between the two. Bowling posted an indirect response saying “at least name it after me.”

DEADROP contains 10,000 Variants for those that purchased a Founder’s Pass for the vertical extraction shooter developed by Dr Disrespect’s studio. It’s unclear if Midnight Society will take action over the similar design but it’s not the first time the Call of Duty publisher has come under fire for stealing designs.

In recent weeks, Activision allegedly used a design from an aspiring artist for the Floof Fury skin. Subsequently, the design disappeared from Warzone and Vanguard with the publisher issuing an apology to the designer. Is this the first clash between Activision and Midnight Society? We will have to wait and see.

For more Call of Duty, be sure to check out our guide showcasing the best Warzone sniper rifle to use for the remainder of Season 4 Reloaded.