Black Ops Cold War dev reveals sniper changes coming before launch

Tony Flame, developer at Treyarch working on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, has confirmed that sniper changes will be made after the ongoing Alpha, as the weapon class continues to cause discussion.

The hugely anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War stunned fans on September 16, confirming that an open Alpha would drop for the weekend and be completely free for all Playstation players.

Despite being less than a weekend old, opinions have swirled about the relative strength of sniper rifles, with some suggesting they are too strong.

There are only two sniper rifles available in the Alpha, both bolt-actions and both one-hit kills to the upper body and head. Regardless, the speed of scope ins and mobility while using snipers has been discussed, with many suggesting they are slightly too powerful.

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However, Treyarch developer Tony Flame was on hand to communicate why they may feel strong in the Alpha, and confirmed that they will be toned down for the subsequent Beta and full game release.

“Ok let’s talk sniping in Cold War.  Crossplay is coming, but we knew it wouldn’t be in Alpha,” he explained on Twitter. “We buffed Snipers to evaluate their performance in this Alpha specifically. Sniper Rifles WILL have balance changes for the upcoming Beta based on our analytics data this weekend.”

In short, Treyarch intentionally made snipers stronger for the ongoing Alpha so they could better understand how controller players will deal with the mechanics. They will be adjusted before the closed Beta drops in October, and the full game releases in November.

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How they will end up fitting into the game’s wider meta remains to be seen, but many have commented on their power in the current build of Black Ops Cold War. They will undoubtedly be relieved, though, to find that this strengthening was intentional, and for research purposes.

The full game is set to release on November 13.