Treyarch today officially took down the pre-order multiplayer map Nuketown 2025 from the multiplayer map rotation in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
David Vonderhaar, game design director at Treyarch, released the news on his official Twitter page that the pre-order map will be taken down now that the "Double XP weekend" is now over. He was quoted saying:
"Double XP weekend is official over. That means Nuketown 2025 / 24-7 is as well. I know. RIGHT? Don’t kill the messenger."
Whether this was a planned change or an executive decision is still unknown. The gaming industry has had plenty of issues in regards to downloadable content and add-ons, but having that content taken away is a new scenario. According to Vonderhaar, however, it may not be entirely permanent. He replied to a user question about Nuketown 2025 being avaiable in regular playlists, to which he replied:
"Yeah. Probably eventually. We are talking that over internally."
The fact that downloadable content for a game, even though it was included in the regular retail price, can be taken away so easily is a bit endearing. Regardless of intentions, this is certainly going to turn a few heads, and Treyarch will more than likely have to deal with backlash from players.
Via Polygon.com, David Vonderhaar’s Twitter page