Messi, Neymar and Pogba all playable characters in Call of Duty

Three soccer stars, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Paul Pogba, are available for purchase in the latest Call of Duty. The three players are simply cosmetic characters that gamers can use in both Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.

The addition of Lionel Messi is the latest one. The Argentine joined the game on November 29. This is the day before his Argentina side entered a win-or-go-home game against Poland. Paul Pogba and Neymar had bundles already in the game. Each has themes surrounding the player, including colors, nicknames and numbers.

For example, the latest release of Lionel Messi, comes with two weapon blueprints (customized guns with attachments and paint jobs) on top of other items, including Messi himself. The name of the weapon blueprints are ‘Blue Thunder,’ an homage to his sky blue colorway with Argentina. The other is ‘Atomic Flea,’ a nickname for the short-statured player who simply annoys opponents with his dribbling skills.

Each character’s bundle also has a ‘finishing move.’ This is something in-game users use to eliminate opponents with some style. Fittingly, as these three characters are soccer players, each of the finishing moves associated with the player involved the use of legs.

Each of the bundles to unlock the characters is 2400 Call of Duty Points. In terms of actual money, that is around $24. However, the game does sell a pack of 2,400 COD Points for $20.

Messi, Neymar and Pogba in Call of Duty

Call of Duty actually has something of a history when it comes to bringing in real life celebrities to games. One of the first notable attempts came back in Call of Duty Black Ops in 2010. Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara and Fidel Castro were options in a Call of Duty Zombies level.

Then, in 2020, rapper Snoop Dogg, was an option as a downloadable character much in the same way Messi, Neymar and Pogba are in the current Call of Duty.

Of course, each of these players also appears in the FIFA video games as more traditional soccer players.