Warzone’s most annoying meta proves Black Ops 6 has to make major changes

The final weeks of Warzone’s life cycle as part of Modern Warfare 3 has seen one of the most annoying metas possible take shape, as akimbo fire shotguns run rampant – and this should serve as a serious learning point for Black Ops 6.

Shotguns have historically been a seriously divisive topic for Call of Duty players. Some players love them as a standard weapon class that has been in the franchise for years. Others believe they’re often overpowered and help compensate for a lack of skill, by simply killing too fast.

Whichever side of the boat you sit, it’s very likely you can agree on one thing: the current meta of akimbo Reclaimer 18s with Dragons Breath rounds is not good for the overall flow and health of Warzone, especially in Resurgence modes where it dominates.

You can’t play through a game, either Warzone or regular MW3 multiplayer, without someone sprinting around like a headless chicken, letting their akimbo shotties fly, and they only need to hit you once to down you.

Every so often, these types of weapon builds pop up, and throughout Warzone’s history, shotguns have been an infuriatingly overpowered meta option at various points. And every time, the same conversations happen.

The fact of the matter though is that BO6 developers Treyarch have to give extra focus to the shotguns in the game, especially when it gets integrated with Warzone.

There has to be more serious tradeoffs for using shotguns, especially when dual-wielding them. While the range sacrifice is decent, it still leaves some to be desired, especially in games where players are likely to be hiding in close-quarter corners.

Ultimately, while this is to be expected, especially in a battle royale setting, it adds even more randomness to a game already rife with it. It’s annoying and decreases the skill gap exponentially, and this is something both Treyarch and Warzone devs Raven Software need to be aware of.