Call of Duty pro players react angrily to upcoming Black Ops 4 balancing update

A number of professional Call of Duty players have reacted to the upcoming balancing changes in Black Ops 4, revealed by Treyarch on February 15, and many are not pleased with the proposed changes.

A major shift in the overall gun meta is predicted, with popular weapons like the Maddox receiving significant nerfs, while other, perhaps underused weapons like the VAPR, will be receiving improvements.

For competitive play, the ‘meta’ has remained steady since the game’s launch, with three main weapons – ICR, Maddox and Saug – in use, creating a general balance in gunplay.

The Maddox is getting a serious nerf.

With the balancing changes, it is expected that this meta will shift drastically, with perhaps all but the ICR going out of fashion, and new weapons like the VAPR, MX-9 and GKS coming into play.

But it’s not just contents of the update which have caused concern, but also the timing. With Division A of the Pro League just concluding its first split, Division B is up next, and the update will land right in the middle of matches.

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Pro teams in Division B will have no time to practice or adjust to the changes, meaning they will have to simply adapt on the fly. Meanwhile, Division A teams will be free to practice with the new update well in advance of CWL Fort Worth.

CWL’s own Xav de Matos has stated that the the first week of Division B matches will not use the new update, instead only applying it for week 2 onwards.

Only time will tell if the weapon balancing changes improve the overall competitive gameplay, and perhaps it will promote more weapons being viable.

The patch is geared more towards the large casual player base than the competitive scene, with the Maddox particularly being one weapon which casual players have voiced concern over.