Black Ops 6 devs want burst-fire rifle to be a meta weapon

Ryan Lemay
Black Ops 6

Former professional Call of Duty player Crimsix sees potential in the SWAT 5.56 marksman rifle, and the Black Ops 6 devs agree.

FPS players at the highest level can make any weapon look good, and that’s especially true for Crimsix, who has the most major CoD tournament wins in history. In saying that, players can’t decide if the SWAT 5.56 is too strong or needs a rework.

The three-round-burst marksman rifle can one-shot enemies, and Crimsix put that on full display in an impressive highlight reel.

Treyarch associate director Matt Scronce responded, “I challenged the team to get a burst fire back into the comp meta. How far off are we?”

In response to how the weapon performs in the beta, Crimsix responded, “Incredibly difficult question here given how slow the gun feels (movement/ads/sprint to fire) yet how quick and easy it can one burst. It’s still difficult to land a one burst when people are on headies at distance, so my only advice would be to adjust that somehow.”

Crimsix added that the weapon’s inconsistency is why pro players usually prefer fully-automatic weapons.

The last time professional players used a burst weapon regularly was the M8A7 in 2015 during the Black Ops 3 season and fans in the comment section aren’t sure if the SWAT 5.56 will break that streak.

“Unfortunately i don’t see the pros using a marksman rifle that one bursts more times then not,” one player responded.

Another pointed out one key difference was that the M8A7 was a four-round burst weapon, while the SWAT 5.56 is a three round-burst.

“To be a comp AR, it has to be a 4-shot burst instead of a 3-burst, and it can only 1-burst kill if you hit all 4 shots in a burst,” they argued.

“I feel like a faster fire rate burst weapon with less damage per burst has a better chance,” a third said.