What is open bolt delay in Call of Duty: Warzone?

Call of Duty: Warzone has incorporated a number of weapon mechanics that previous iterations of the series have not included, with one being open bolt delay. But what is it, and how does it affect weapons in CoD’s battle royale? 

With the May 7 Warzone patch notes came news of the PPSh-41’s buff in Verdansk ’84. Its first buff was easy to understand – a maximum damage range increase of 4%. However, its second left many players scratching their heads – Open Bolt Delay decreased by 80%.

Raven’s reasoning was to diversify the viable SMGs in Warzone and give each its own unique specialty. But what is open bolt delay in Warzone, how does it affect guns, and why does decreasing it constitute a weapon buff?

What is open bolt delay in Warzone?

Essentially, open bolt delay in Warzone seeks to mirror a real life weapon mechanic. According to Gun Wiki, open bolt “refers to the action of the weapon being held to the rear of the weapon when it is ready to fire. When the trigger is pulled on an open bolt firearm, the bolt and action slam forward which feeds a round into the magazine.” The time between the trigger being pulled and the bolt and action slamming forward is the open bolt delay.

• Read More: Warzone devs reveal plan to slow TTK for all guns in future updates

In Warzone, then, it presents itself as a slight delay between players pulling the trigger and the first bullet being fired. Naturally, CoD developers have grown to use it as a weapon balancing factor. For example, in Modern Warfare, the Uzi SMG – a real life open bolt weapon – was hindered by its open bolt delay.

This is the same case with the PPSh-41. A decrease to its open bolt delay means the first bullet will fire faster, consistent with Raven’s aim to make it a more viable close-range weapon. If this proves to be too powerful, Raven could well increase its open bolt delay in the future.

The weapons affected by open bolt delay are the weapons that are designed with open bolts in real life. As such, the MAC 10, PPSh-41, Uzi and M60 all experience some kind of open bolt delay in-game.

While the guns affected are representative of their real-life versions, Raven’s use of open bolt delay as a balancing factor means that they are likely not wholly accurate. Regardless, the PPSh will now respond quicker to players pulling the trigger, so drop in with our best loadout and give it a chance.