Summary
Sledgehammer Games has shared the results ofCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s recent Ranked Play weapon evaluation test and confirmed some of the weapon balance changes coming soon. To start,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s developers plan to make a significant adjustment to assault rifles, followed by additional changes later on.
TheMW3Ranked Play testbegan on April 16 and ran for a week, when a handful of previously banned weapons were temporarily unbanned to gather data and gauge players' opinions. Treyarch, the developer behindMW3’s Ranked Play, explained that it was exploring the possibility of permanently adding additional guns to expand Ranked’s limited meta, which has consisted of only two weapons for most of its lifespan. Many players welcomed the fresh lineup of guns, and it seems that the test data will result in real changes very soon.
Sledgehammer announced that the first change thanks to the test phase’s data will arrive on May 1 with theSeason 3 Reloaded update, when the hipfire accuracy of assault rifles will be reduced to emphasize their mid and long-range capabilities, making submachine guns a stronger option in close-range engagements, especially in Ranked where weapon classes like shotguns are banned. Sledgehammer also shared a few graphics that highlighted players' weapon pick rates and each gun’s performance during the test phase. By the end of the test, the MCW’s pick rate had almost halved, and the popular Rival-9 was overtaken by new additions like the RAM-9 and others.
Assault Rifle Hipfire Getting Nerfed In Modern Warfare 3
Another graphic showed that the fourModern Warfare 3weaponswith the highest K/D ratios during the test phase were all new additions, specifically the Holger-556, MTZ-556, RAM-9, and BP50. Sledgehammer emphasized that further balancing will be needed to avoid a repeat of the current situation in which only a couple of weapons are ever used. Despite all the data Sledgehammer shared, the studio did not outright confirm which test weapons might be added to Ranked Play later on, but it appears that any weapon additions won’t be happening in the immediate future.
The hipfire change to assault rifles arrives on May 1 withModern Warfare 3’s Season 3 Reloaded update. The major update also brings two new 6v6 maps, two game modes, and more toModern Warfare 3, along with new content forWarzoneandWarzone Mobile.
It’s unclear what other weapon balance changes might be included in the approaching update, but there will likely be more. However, they might not be related to the recent Ranked Play test and its data.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
WHERE TO PLAY
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