Season 1 Reloaded patch notes detail a slate of changes for Call of Duty: MW3 and Warzone
The update is packed with weapon adjustments, the new Night Vision Gulag event, and Ranked play
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What you need to know
Activision and the dev teams behind Call of Duty have released a massive new update today to mark the start of Season 1 Reloaded. Modern Warfare 3 players can look forward to a new 6v6 map, playlist rotation, and some new modes, which we explained in detail in ourMW3 Season 1 Reloaded explainer.
Call of Duty: Warzone was expected to receive new win conditions for the battle royale modes with today’s update. However, fan reaction was overwhelmingly negative, leading Raven Software to exclude the Covert Exfil conditions from the January 17 patch. Raven Software also posted to social media that the studio was dissatisfied with the quality of the Champion’s Quest for Warzone and would be disabling it until it could be re-evaluated. Ranked play, developed by Treyarch for Modern Warfare 3, has also seen a launch delay and is not immediately available with Season 1 Reloaded.
Upon deliberation with our teams, we have decided to temporarily disable the new Champion’s Quest feature.At the moment, the current state of the update does not meet our standards for quality and gameplay, and we are committed to addressing the issues promptly to ensure that… https://t.co/0hfktpwEYsJanuary 17, 2024
Even without covert exfils, Ranked play, and Champion’s quests, there are still plenty of changes in Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone that were shared today viathe Call of Duty Blog, starting with weapon buffs and nerfs.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Season 1 Reloaded weapon balance
Weapon balancing
Assault rifles
Battle rifles
Submachine guns
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Shotguns
Light machine guns
Marksman rifles
Sniper rifles
Handguns
Launchers
Attachment and equipment balancing
Attachments
Perks
Equipment and field upgrades
Killstreaks
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Ranked Play launch
If you’re waiting anxiously for Ranked play to go live, you will need to wait just a bit longer. While Season 1 Reloaded is officially live, the rollout for Ranked play will lag behind. Players who want to hop into Ranked will need to hit level 55 in Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer before they may do so. Ranked play utilizes CDL agreements and restrictions for the available playlists.
Ranked play maps and modes
CDL Search and Destroy
CDL Control
CDL Hardpoint
Weapon restrictions (MW3)
All MW2 weapons will be restricted from Ranked play in Modern Warfare 3.
Attachment restrictions
All MW2 attachments will be restricted from Modern Warfare 3 Ranked play.
Equipment, gear, and killstreak restrictions
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Season 1 Reloaded UIX and Gameplay fixes
In a first-person shooter, weapon balancing is essential. But a good weapon balance doesn’t mean a thing if the game is buggy and has bad UI. Sledgehammer Games and the support studios behind Modern Warfare 3 have heard the players' feedback during the pre-season and first half of Season 1, meaning there are some changes and bug fixes to look forward to as part of this update.
UIX
Spectating in the third-person is no longer allowed in the following modes:
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Progression
Maps
Estate
Derail
Highrise
Skidrow
Sub Base
Terminal
Underpass
The following maps have had capture point locations, sizes, and spawn points adjusted for the Hardpoint mode.
Operation Spearhead (War)
Modes
If you’ve been playing Infected, you may have noticed that using a field upgrade would disable it from becoming available for the remainder of the match. That has now been patched. Deployable cover field upgrades will also now properly deploy upon placement. Search & Destroy fans get a much requested change, as well, as sliding while planting or defusing the bomb no longer puts the player in a standing position at the end of the slide. Instead, the player will remain crouched once the slide has ended.
Call of Duty Warzone S1 Reloaded weapon balancing
Keeping Warzone’s weapons balanced is a constant challenge, especially with players discovering new metas around the clock. Season 1 has led to some problems with players creating loadouts centered around the MTZ Interceptor and WSP Swarm. While there are balances, buffs, and nerfs included for Warzone with the Season 1 Reloaded patch, these two common weapons will continue to receive additional balancing adjustments in future updates.
Weapon balancing
Assault rifles
Battle rifles
Light machine guns
Submachine guns
Sniper rifles
Attachment balancing
Warzone gameplay patches
Warzone was expected to receive some of the biggest changes during Season 1 reloaded, but sadly many of these changes have had to be rolled back or delayed as a result of player backlash and feedback. Covert exfils have been removed until they can be reconsidered, and the Champion’s Quest is currently disabled, as well. Here are the changes that did make it to Warzone with today’s update:
Bug fixes
With any new update comes new bugs, but the Season 1 Reloaded update forModern Warfare 3and Warzone has been a particularly rough launch. Between negative player feedback and newly introduced bugs, you will probably expect plenty of hotfixes and small patches to be released over the next few days as the teams work out the kinks.
Cole is the resident Call of Duty know-it-all and indie game enthusiast for Windows Central. She’s a lifelong artist with two decades of experience in digital painting, and she will happily talk your ear off about budget pen displays.
