Black Ops Cold War’s mid-season update launch times and patch notes released

Activision has released details of Black Ops Cold War’s mid-season update, including launch times, file sizes and patch notes.

Weighing in at 12.2GB on PS5, 7.4GB on PS4, 14.18GB on Xbox Series X/S, 9.13GB on Xbox One, and 8.1GB on PC, the update will be released on March 29 at 9pm PT/March 30 at 12am ET (5am UK).

The update will include the return of Prop Hunt “with new maps and props added to the rotation”, three new maps (Miami Strike, Mansion and Golova), plus the “massive” night-time Sanatorium region in Outbreak.

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It will also feature a significant weapon tuning pass for the game’s multiplayer component, including LMG adjustments, “a complete recoil balance pass” on assault rifles and SMG attachments, plus a buff to launcher damage against players with Flak Jacket in Hardcore.

The following weapons will also be tuned: the LC10, AK-74u, MAC-10, KSP 45, Milano 821, Krig 6, FFAR 1, Groza, Magnum, RPG-7 (see full patch notes below).

Activision also said on Monday that Call of Duty Warzone and Modern Warfare file sizes will be significantly reduced following a new 50GB+ update for the games.

Following the update, which launches on March 30 at 11pm PST/March 31 at 2am ET (7am UK), the Warzone file size will be cut by as much a 14.2GB, and the Modern Warfare/Warzone file size will be slashed by as much as 33.6GB, depending on the given platform.

“This will come after a larger than usual, one-time update for Season Two Reloaded, which will include these optimizations and is necessary in order to reduce the overall footprint; future patch sizes for Modern Warfare and Warzone are expected to be smaller”, Activision said.

The update in question weighs in at 52GB on PlayStation consoles, 57.8GB on Xbox consoles, and 52.4GB on PC (Warzone only) / 133.6GB (Warzone and Modern Warfare).

Season Two Reloaded patch notes

GLOBAL

Weapons

• Assault Rifles
  • Krig 6
    • Improved visibility while firing in ADS.
    • Complete tuning pass on weapon accuracy, weapon movement, and visual clarity while firing with any Optic attachment.
    • Addressed instances of the weapon feeling “floaty” when firing for a prolonged amount of time.
  • FFAR 1
    • Increased ballistic speed by 12.8%.
  • Groza
    • Increased maximum damage range by 40%.
  • Attachments
    • Complete tuning pass on Muzzle and Underbarrel attachments that affect Recoil on assault rifles.
• Submachine Guns
  • Milano 821
    • Increased mid-range damage by 10%.
    • Increased mid-range damage range by 33%.
    • Increased sprint out speed by 14.2%.
    • Increased raise speed by 11%.
    • Slightly increased ADS-in speed.
  • KSP 45
    • Increased ballistic speed by 32.5%.
    • Reduced burst delay by 20%.
  • AK-74u
    • Reduced accuracy with prolonged firing.
    • Reduced muzzle velocity by 23.4%.
  • LC10
    • Reduced max damage range by 41%.
    • Slightly reduced mid-range damage.
  • MAC-10
    • Modified bullet pattern to add slightly more horizontal trajectories.
  • Attachments
    • Complete tuning pass on Muzzle and Underbarrel attachments that affect Recoil on SMGs.
• Light Machine Guns
  • Light Machine Gun Alpha
    • Reduced maximum damage range by 25%.
• Sniper Rifles
  • Disabled glint effect on sniper rifles with Iron Sights equipped.
• Pistols
  • 1911
    • Increased ADS speed by 11%.
  • Magnum
    • Slightly decreased hip-fire accuracy.
    • Dual Wield: Bullet trajectories are now more varied when firing both guns simultaneously.
    • Redesigned the 4.7” Takedown Barrel attachment into a “Tight Snub” Barrel. This attachment now adds damage to both enemies and vehicles.
• Launchers
  • RPG-7
    • Slightly increased blast radius.
    • Greatly increased length of straight rocket flight path.
  • General
    • Rockets now inflict more damage to enemies with Flak Jacket in Hardcore. Still requires a direct hit for a 1-hit kill.
• Attachments
  • Infantry V-Choke
    • Updated attachment description to clarify pros and cons.
• Weapon Progression
  • Players can now earn Weapon XP and Challenge progress by using any weapon, even if they do not currently own it (for example, using another player’s weapon picked up from the ground that the player does not currently own).

Movement

• Slightly reduced speed of changing stances from stand, crouch, and prone. Additional adjustments to come to address remaining disparity between 1st-person and 3rd-person perspectives.

Combat Record

• Added Vehicles section.
• Addressed an issue with the “Killed By” stat not tracking properly.

MULTIPLAYER

Maps

• Miami Strike (6v6)
  • Miami Strike added to 6v6 rotation in Multiplayer modes.
  • Miami Strike will replace the original Miami map in all core modes with the exception of Combined Arms, Search & Destroy, and VIP Escort.
  • Miami Strike 24/7 playlist also available at launch.
• Mansion (2v2, 3v3)
  • Mansion added to rotation in Gunfight and Face Off.
• Golova (Multi-Team)
  • Golova added to rotation in Multi-Team modes.
• Apocalypse
  • Hardpoint: Addressed an issue that allowed players to capture P3 Hardpoint outside of the intended boundary.
• The Pines
  • Control: Adjusted Zone B to allow capturing against the pizza counter.
• Raid
  • Hardpoint: Adjusted distance of spawns from P1 to each side of the map to reduce chances of spawning beside or behind enemy team.
• Garrison
  • Control: Extended Zone A up to the platform outside of “green” room.
  • Control: Conditional Attacker spawns added to reduce travel time to Zone A.
  • Hardpoint: Removed spawns that were too close to P2 and P5.
  • Hardpoint: Added a larger spread of spawns for P1, P2, and P3 to reduce chances of spawning behind enemy team.
• Miami (Original)
  • Scaled down bullet collision on the Miami Patrol van.

Modes

• Multi-Team Hardpoint
  • New Multiplayer mode added to Multi-Team.
  • 10 squads of four fight for multiple Hardpoints at a time. Each set of Hardpoints lasts 120 seconds before rotating to the next locations.
  • Teams will earn 1 point every second for all teammates inside of a Hardpoint.
  • The first squad to reach 1,000 points wins the match.
• Prop Hunt
  • Miami Strike and Satellite added to map rotation.
  • Refreshed prop rotation for several existing maps.
  • Addressed an issue where the Best Play prop camera could appear underground.
• Control
  • New Custom Game Options added:
    • Time Per Segment: The amount of time added onto the current round time limit when a zone segment is captured.
    • Overtime Rules: Determines whether Overtime Defense is given to the team with the most kills or the most zone segments captured during the previous rounds.
• Gunfight
  • Added Gunfight mode-specific Medals.
  • Battle Chatter now disabled in Gunfight and Gunfight variants.
• VIP Escort
  • Addressed an issue where the player could hear incorrect VO lines when beginning a round as the VIP.
• Multi-Team
  • Addressed an issue where teammates could spawn on top of one another after a team wipe respawn.
• General
  • Enemy red dots will now be prioritized on top of objective icons on the mini-map.

Featured Playlists

• Miami Strike 24/7 [NEW]
• Multi-Team Hardpoint – Golova [NEW]
• Multi-Team Moshpit [NEW]
  • Moshpit of Multi-Team modes, including 40-Player Hardpoint on Ruka, Alpine, Sanatorium, and Golova.
• Prop Hunt [NEW]
• Snipers Only Moshpit
• Nuketown 24/7
• Gunfight
• Face Off

Challenges

• General
  • Flashbang/Stunned Challenges are now easier to complete.
• Fog of War
  • Addressed inconsistencies with the Smoke Grenade Cover Assists combat stat.
  • Addressed issues with “Fog of War” Challenge and “Sight Unseen” Medal not tracking properly with the Danger Close Wildcard equipped.
  • Updated Challenge description for clarity.

General

• Gestures
  • Gestures can now be used before the round starts.
• Social
  • Updated messaging when a player is kicked from the party.
• Turrets
  • Addressed and issue where players on Mounted Turrets could be immune to Dirt Bike vehicles.
• Audio
  • Addressed an issue where VO would say “No Targets Destroyed” if the Attack Helicopter was destroyed with a Cruise Missile.

LEAGUE PLAY

Wildcards

• Law Breaker
  • Law Breaker in League Play will no longer allow any weapon to be put into either weapon slot. Players will only be able to use a Primary and Secondary weapon.
  • Law Breaker will now only allow players to equip multiple Perks from the same Perk category.
• Perk Greed
  • Perk Greed is now restricted completely.

Match Suspensions

• Players who quit out of active matches or are kicked for friendly fire will now be issued a matchmaking suspension for a period of time.
• Penalties will escalate if the player continues to quit out of matches or is consistently kicked for friendly fire.

UI

• Extended placement bracket to include Top 25 and Top 50.
• Updated gem representation in Rank Progression screen.
• Updated Ladder Event Complete screen with new gem celebration animation.
• Added location to the top of the League Play Ladder to showcase current placement gems.

ZOMBIES

Outbreak

• New Region
  • Sanatorium (Night) region added to Outbreak.
• New Objective
  • Secure Objective added to Outbreak.
• New Vehicle
  • Dirt Bike vehicle added to Outbreak.
• New Intel
  • New Audio Logs and Radio Transmissions added for players to discover in the Ural Mountains.
• Stability
  • Added fixes for various crashes related to Objectives, Trials, the RAI-K 84, and the Frost Blast Field Upgrade.
• Gameplay
  • Addressed various issues where players could fall out of the map on Alpine.
  • Addressed an issue where players could get stuck in a planter on Golova.
  • Addressed an issue where the Golden Chest could push vehicles under the map.
  • Addressed an issue where kills with vehicles were not always contributing to the Dragon Relic.
  • Players will now take damage from the Dragon Relic rocket thrusters when it takes off. Look out below!
• Objectives
  • Holdout
    • Reduced duration of Holdout Objective by 30 seconds.
    • Added Ammo Cache to the Holdout Objective space in Alpine.
    • Cleaned up areas that were interfering with barricading and shooting out of windows in the Golova Holdout Objective.
  • Defend
    • The Defend console now takes more damage from Hellhounds.
    • Addressed an issue where picking up the specimen head while prone could prevent the player from being able to deposit it during the Defend Objective.
  • Retrieve
    • Addressed an issue where the progress bar for depositing the canister could break during the Retrieve Objective.
  • Escort
    • Enemies will no longer de-spawn when the Payload teleports.
• Enemies
  • Addressed various zombie pathing issues in Ruka, Alpine, and Golova.
  • Addressed an issue where Manglers could still use their arm cannons and Krasny Soldats could still use their jet packs after they were destroyed by Energy Mines.
  • Addressed an issue where damage from the Tempest was not mitigated by Armor.
  • Addressed an issue where zombies would ignore players when another player deployed a Cymbal Monkey and left the match.
• Field Upgrades
  • Addressed an issue where Field Upgrades could be reset after switching classes and warping to another region.
  • Addressed an issue where Field Upgrade charge was not reset when changing classes.
• Challenges
  • Addressed an issue where Elites were not being counted toward the Outbreak Eliminations challenge.
• Trials
  • Addressed an issue where Trials challenges were duplicating earlier than intended.
• Pack-a-Punch
  • Addressed an issue where players were unable to re-roll attachments on some weapons after upgrading them at the Pack-a-Punch machine.
  • Closed an exploit that allowed duplication of the Ray Gun or RAI-K 84 using the Pack-a-Punch machine.
• Equipment
  • Addressed an issue where players with a full stack of Equipment had the option to pick up that same Equipment and drop their stack.
• Support
  • Support weapons that use ammo will no longer be refilled when warping to another region.

Round-Based Maps

• Firebase Z
  • Addressed an issue where cross-platform players were unable to load into a Private match.
  • Closed an exploit in the Village where zombies were unable to attack the player.
  • Closed an exploit that allowed players to leave the map in Rocky Defense.
  • Closed an exploit that allowed accessing the Teleporter before purchasing the first door.
• Die Maschine
  • Addressed an issue where the D.I.E. Shockwave could be obtained through the door to its location.
• Stability
  • Added various crash fixes related to side quests.

Dead Ops Arcade 3

• Progression
  • Players now earn player XP and Battle Pass progression in all Dead Ops Arcade modes (subject to additional tuning).
• Bonus Maps
  • New Silverback Slideways bonus map added to rotation.
• Gameplay
  • Increased Key spawn rates and added additional Key locations.
  • Tuned the number of hits a player can absorb in The Wild before dying.
  • Tuned life donation rewards.
  • Added fixes for various shield-type pickups not properly crediting their owner with kills.
  • Addressed an issue where spinning Chickens could potentially kill the player with sawblades.
  • Addressed an issue where players were sometimes unable to leave the Deadly Dungeon when collecting the ladder.
  • Addressed an issue where players could be left behind when the Dungeon was triggered.
  • Addressed an issue where the Flogger Trap could cause unintentional player deaths.
  • Added various exploit fixes.
• Enemies
  • Boss / Underboss level enemies will now kill in one shot regardless of whether the player is in First Person.
  • Reduced explosive damage range of Meatballs when they die.
  • Addressed an issue that could result in spawning invisible enemies.
  • Addressed an issue where the Spider could launch the player’s vehicle out of the map.
• Visuals
  • Addressed an issue where bodies could disappear in certain graphical modes.
  • Addressed an issue where some particle effects were not playing on enemies.
  • Addressed an issue where special particle effects could remain on-screen instead of being cleaned up.
• Controls
  • Addressed an issue where selecting the Flip Bumper controller setting could create a conflict when switching from First Person mode to classic mode.
• Stability
  • Added various crash fixes.
• General
  • Players are now able to immediately quit the match after a host migration occurs in Dead Ops Arcade 3.

Onslaught (PS4/PS5)**

• Modes
  • Containment
    • Battle to contain the forces of the Dark Aether and survive an intense new experience on close-quarters Gunfight maps.
• Blueprint Challenge
  • Complete the latest Blueprint Challenge unlock the exclusive “Jungle Fighter” tactical rifle Weapon Blueprint.
• New Item Drops
  • Level 2 and Level 3 Armor drops now available.
  • Ammo Mod drops now available that apply a random alternate ammo type to your weapon.
  • Aether Tool drops now available that upgrade your weapon.
  • Bronze, Silver, and Gold Chalice drops now available that will Pack-a-Punch your weapon, once earned.
• Server Pause
  • Server pause now available in Private Onslaught matches.

Featured Playlists

• Outbreak
• Firebase Z
• Die Maschine
• Dead Ops Arcade: First Person
• Dead Ops Arcade
• Onslaught (PS4/PS5)
• Onslaught Containment [NEW] (PS4/PS5)
• Onslaught Nuketown (PS4/PS5)
• Onslaught Apocalypse (PS4/PS5)

Features

• Apply Blueprint
  • Players can now apply any Weapon Blueprint they own to their weapon in the Pause menu, including any weapon picked up or acquired from a Wall Buy.

Ammo Mods

• Dead Wire
  • Dead Wire Tier V now correctly spreads to 3 targets instead of 5.
  • Addressed an issue where Dead Wire was doing the same amount of tick damage to zombies and special enemies.

Perks

• Elemental Pop
  • Tuned down intensity of FX on Tier V electric discharge for Elemental Pop.

General

• Addressed an issue where some players could get stuck at the Pause screen in Zombies.
• Addressed instances where players were not put into the same party after accepting an invite. 

CAMPAIGN

Gameplay

• Addressed an issue in “End of the Line” where the player could fall through the ground after using a turret.

Stability

• Addressed a rare crash that could occur when entering or quitting a mission.