I think @fourzerotwo (Robert Bowling) is going to be happy to see that Activision just added his own skin in #Vanguard 🤡
— 𝗡𝗛' -Hotel Six- 🧼🥇 (@ModenasHD) August 16, 2022
Maybe not... ->🙃 pic.twitter.com/vZTyWIp2pZ
Call of Duty has been accused of plagiarising a skin design from Dr Disrespect’s FPS
The new Doomsayer skin is similar to the Deadrop skin used by former Infinity Ward dev Robert Bowling
Call of Duty Warzone and Vanguard face fresh allegations of skin plagiarism, after it was pointed out that a newly added skin looks similar to one from upcoming FPS Deadrop.
Deadrop is the PvP multiplayer title currently in development at Midnight Society, the new studio founded by streamer Guy ‘Dr Disrespect‘ Beahm.
The game will make use of NFTs, and players are able to buy a ‘Founders Pass’ NFT which gives them a unique skin.
On Tuesday, Twitter user ModenasHD pointed out that one of the new Call of Duty skins, named Doomsayer, looks extremely similar to the Deadrop skin used by former COD developer Robert Bowling.
Bowling, also known among Call of Duty players by his username fourzerotwo, was the former creative strategist and community manager at Infinity Ward.
He’s now the studio head of Midnight Society, where he’s working alongside Beahm on Deadrop.
“I think Robert Bowling is going to be happy to see that Activision just added his own skin in Vanguard,” ModenasHD joked on Twitter, showing a side-by-side comparison with Bowling’s Deadrop skin and the new Doomsayer skin available on Call of Duty.
Bowling presumably noticed the tweet, later simply tweeting “at least name it after me” with no other context given.
The incident comes just weeks after another Call of Duty skin was accused of plagiarising another artist’s work.
A ‘Loyal Samoled’ skin planned for the game made the player look like a fluffy dog, but it bore a strong resemblance to a piece of 2019 art by concept artist Sail Lin, who noted the similarities online.
Activision then removed the skin and apologised, saying: “We love the Loyal Samoyed, but regrettably we erred in our process and have removed this imagery from the game. We apologise for the misstep.”
Neither Activision nor Midnight Society has made an official statement on the alleged Deadrop skin similarities.