Loadout Changes
With over one hundred million active players and millions in revenue, Call of Duty: Warzone, a free to play battle royale by Activision Studios, in conjunction with Raven Software, has taken the world by storm since its release in March 2020. Call of Duty: Warzone offers players the ability to conquer Verdansk, now set in 1984, in hectic and fast paced battles in various game modes, and either alone or in teams of up to four players. Notwithstanding its raw gameplay, fun playstyle and need for communication, as well as its cult following, Warzone has not been without its critics and detractors. Much of the criticism aimed at the developers concerns the lack of balance with the guns in the game and the sometimes boring meta. Historically, the game has even been described as unplayable during certain periods due to the game’s meta where guns such as the AUG, DMR-14 and M16 were running rampant, as the time to kill or TTK was incredibly high and there was no genuine counter.
However, since the latest update, Raven Software seemed to have hit the nail on the head as fans of the game have found it to be well balanced, fair and overall fun. Raven Software intends to make further changes to the game today, with a new update. Besides minor bug fixes and changes to the ground loot, the developers intend to further balance specific weapons. In prefacing the changes to the weapons, Raven Software’s release stated “With that being said, we feel we are close to a ‘balance homeostasis’ where most options are at the very least viable. Which leaves us to address Time to Kill. The following balance changes are part of our ongoing efforts to raise TTK or at least the individual skill required to reach extreme ones. We ask that you consider these changes not as targeted attacks, but rather as part of a larger initiative to raise the skill ceiling.”
The most substantial change has been made to the CR-56 AMAX, a long-range automatic assault rifle that is known for hitting hard with minimal recoil. The developers have decided to reduce the minimum damage from 32 to 31 in an attempt to make other long-range rifles more viable as they find that the CR-56 AMAX has become too much a staple in weapon loadouts. The FARA-83 and Streetsweeper have also been impacted as the Streetsweeper was considered to be too effective at close range due to its hip fire accuracy and fast rate of fire. Finally, the Bullfrog and PPSH-41 SMG’s have been altered, as the Bullfrog has been slightly weakened while the PPSH-41, a recently released weapon, has been given a slight boost. The Bullfrog was targeted in particular as it quickly became one of the fastest killing weapons in the game.
Overall, these changes are exciting as Raven Software is clearly listening to fan input and making necessary changes to the meta to ensure that the game is balanced and interesting.
If you play Warzone, are you a fan of the changes? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter and Facebook.