What are GobbleGums in Black Ops 6 Zombies? “Pay to win” mechanic explained
Activision Zombies returns in Black Ops 6 and reintroduces the GobbleGums mechanic which hasn’t been seen since Black Ops 3.
When introduced in Black Ops 3, GobbleGums was controversial as it was expensive, asking players to spend in-game currency or grind for the desired effect. While they can be earned for free in Black Ops 6, pay-to-win concerns have come up once again after the devs announced they can be bought.
With all that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about how GobbleGums work in Black Ops 6’s round-base Zombies.
How do GobbleGums work?
GobbleGums are in-game consumables that give you a power-up. You can get them from Mr. Peeks GobbleGum Machines scattered across Zombies maps.
Before a match starts, you can equip five different types of GobbleGums in your loadout. When you come across a machine, you can use it for free to have a chance to get any of the five GobbleGums you chose.
In a match, you can store up to three unique GobbleGums on you and select which Gum you want to use any time you want. Remember, these Gums are single-use, but you can always get more from a machine.
After interacting with the machine and getting your Gum, it will be on a cooldown until you can get your next one.
Activision All GobbleGum rarities and effects
| Rarity | GobbleGum | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Rare | Shields Up | Your armor is twice as strong for three minutes |
| Rare | KillJoy | An Insta-Kill Power-Up spawns |
| Rare | Stock Option | Ammo is taken from your stockpile instead of your magazine for one minute |
| Rare | Anywhere But Here | You’ll instantly teleport to a random location with a concussive blast that knocks away nearby zombies |
| Rare | Cache Back | A Max Ammo Power-Up spawns |
| Rare | Temporal Gift | The next Power-Up you pick up will last longer |
| Rare | Arsenal Accelerator | Your Field Upgrade charges faster for five minutes |
| Epic | Nowhere But There! | You’ll instantly teleport to a random downed player and instantly revive nearby players |
| Epic | Who’s Keeping Score? | A Double Points Power-Up spawns |
| Epic | Profit Sharing | Nearby players will receive a portion of essence you earn, and vice versa |
| Epic | Respin Cycle | You can reroll the Mystery Box after it has settled and receive another weapon of equal or higher rarity |
| Epic | Exit Strategy | Immediately start an exfil vote and reduce the number of zombies during exfil |
| Epic | Free Fire | Firing weapons consumes no ammo for the next 60 seconds |
| Epic | Soda Fountain | The next Perk purchased gives an additional random Perk |
| Legendary | Idle Eyes | Zombies will ignore players and stand idle for 30 seconds |
| Legendary | Wall Power | The next weapon you buy off a wall will be Pack-A-Punched |
| Legendary | Crate Power | The next weapon you get from the Mystery Box will be Pack-A-Punched |
| Legendary | On the House | A Perk Can Power-Up will spawn |
| Legendary | Immolation Liquidation | A Fire Sale Power-Up will spawn |
| Legendary | Phoenix Up | Revive all teammates and they keep their perks |
| Legendary | Wall-to-Wall Clearance | Wall Buys cost 10 Essence |
| Ultra | Perkaholic | Gives you all Perk-a-Colas on the map |
| Ultra | Wonderbar! | The next gun from the Mystery Box will be a Wonder Weapon |
| Ultra | Near Death Experience | You can revive or be revived by simply being near other players for three minutes. Revived players will also keep their perks |
| Ultra | Hidden Power | Your currently held weapon will be upgraded to Legendary rarity |
| Ultra | Reign Drops | All core Power-Ups will spawn at once |
| Whimsical | Indiegestion | Every zombie you kill will suffer from extreme flatulance |
| Whimsical | Newtonian Negation | Zombies killed fall straight up for three minutes |
A note on the Whimsical GobbleGums, they are meant to give joke effects and won’t have any in-game benefit, so be aware before equipping them.
How to unlock
You’ll unlock GobbleGums by playing Black Ops 6 Zombies and purchasing them through the in-game store.
You’ll earn a random GobbleGum every few rounds and know if you have gotten one before the start of a round with a notification. But if that’s not quick enough for you, you can head to the store and buy more.
Additionally, buying the Vault Edition of Black Ops 6 will net you a GobbleGum Pack, which will give you a boost before entering a match.
ActivisionWhy are GoggleGums controversial?
It was widely assumed that GobbleGums were only going to be earnable through gameplay (and the Vault Edition), but Treyarch confirmed in an October 17 blog post that they’ll also be sold through the store as microtransactions.
Being able to pay for an advantage in Zombies has led to a lot of concern that the mode will become “pay to win” with players simply paying real money to make the game easier.
It’s worth bearing in mind that Zombies is PvE, so you won’t have a paid advantage over anyone else directly, but the game will be much easier for those who buy them. Also, back in Black Ops 3, some players felt they made public lobbies way too easy.
In BO3, GobbleGums were earned by spending Liquid Divinium at Dr Monty’s Factory. Liquid Divinium could be earned by playing but you could also spend CoD Points on it, letting you pay to get more GobbleGums with the chance to earn Mega ones. This was essentially a gambling system, where you’d spend money on Divinium with no guarantee of getting the GobbleGum you wanted.
We don’t know how the system will work in Black Ops 6, only that “Additional GobbleGums are earned in a variety of ways, including simply by playing Zombies and surviving rounds, or by Store purchase.”
You can also check out all of the Wonder Weapons and Perk-A-Cola‘s you can get in Liberty Falls and Terminus.