“Time-To-Kill Is King”- Black Ops Cold War Lead Designer On Nerf and Buff Decisions

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War released on November 13 and from the looks of it, the community has a mixed reaction to the game. Based on the feedback from the initial week, Treyarch has already made several changes in the game’s meta.

In a recent tweet, Treyarch’s Lead Designer Tony Flame explained the rationale behind the ‘nerfs’ and ‘buffs’ that fans witness after every update. As per Tony, the time-to-kill is king, and every weapon has to satisfy a common standard regarding it.

“When a weapon far exceeds that baseline, we must nerf it to respect the TTK, and likewise buff to get it there.”

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Some of the most prominent changes in Black Ops Cold War since release

While incorporating such a vast arsenal, it is obvious that some guns will be better than the rest. However, certain weapons in Call of Duty’s latest title were powerful enough to break the game’s meta.

Primarily, these included the MP5, the burst AR rifles, and Snipers. Owing to Tony Flame’s tweet, it is easier to deduce why Treyarch made the following changes in these weapons:

• MP5

Along with a fast fire rate and high mobility, the Submachine Gun Alpha boasted a minimal damage drop at longer ranges. So much so, players used the gun for cross-mapping enemies. As a result, Treyarch reduced the gun’s effective damage range and added more recoil to it.

• M16

The burst AR rifles, like the M16, also posed problems for the players as they could eliminate an opponent in a single burst. Accordingly, the recent updates reduced its maximum damage range, move speed while firing, and increased its sprint to fire time.

• Sniper Rifles?

The rumors of overpowered snipers in Black Ops Cold War were floating around since the launch of the beta version. The game’s official release not only confirmed these rumors, but compelled the developers to nerf the snipers in upcoming updates.

Following the latest patch, the snipers have a shorter sprint to fire time and balanced barrel attachments.

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To know more about every change in the game since release, read Treyarch’s Launch Week Patch Notes.