Changes for Modern Warfare 3’s second beta weekend have been detailed

The cross-play test is available on PC, PlayStation and Xbox consoles

Changes for Modern Warfare 3’s second beta weekend have been detailed

Activision has detailed the changes introduced for Modern Warfare 3’s second beta weekend.

The first of two Modern Warfare 3 beta weekends took place from October 6-10 and was available exclusively on PS4 and PS5.

The game’s second beta weekend, which supports cross-play on PC, PlayStation and Xbox consoles, is now live and runs until October 16.

Headlining the second beta weekend is the introduction of two additional maps, Highrise and Orlov Military Base (Ground War), and two extra modes, Cutthroat and Search & Destroy.

In terms of gameplay changes, opponents now display a red nameplate above their head, improving visibility, while the Striker submachine gun and Guardian-SC Killstreak have been nerfed. We’ve republished the full patch notes below.

The second beta weekend is open for all PS4 and PS5 owners regardless of their Modern Warfare 3 pre-order status.

It’s also currently available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC pre-order customers, while players who haven’t pre-ordered on these platforms will be able to join in when the beta opens up midway through on October 14 at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST / 7pm CEST.

On Friday the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority officially approved Microsoft‘s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, clearing the way for the Xbox maker to complete the $69 billion deal.

Changes for Modern Warfare 3’s second beta weekend have been detailed

MP BETA WEEKEND 2 PATCH NOTES

GAMEPLAY
  • UIX
    • Enemy Operators will now display a red nameplate above their head.
  • Movement
    • Decreased the slide to sprint delay by 200ms.
WEAPONS
  • Reduced Tac-Stance spread while sliding for several weapon classes.
    • Assault Rifles: Decreased 17-26%.
    • Submachine Guns: Decreased 14-17%.
    • Light Machine Guns: Decreased 30-45%.
    • Marksman Rifles: Decreased 29-31%.
    • Pistols: Decreased 10-20%.
  • Striker (Submachine Gun)
    • Decreased near-medium damage from 39 to 36.
    • Decreased near-medium damage range from 24m to 19m (-21%).
    • Decreased medium damage range from 30m to 25m (-17%).
    • Decreased far-medium damage from 28 to 27.
    • Decreased minimum damage from 23 to 21.
    • Increased headshot damage multiplier from 1.2x to 1.3x.
    • Increased lower-arm damage multiplier from 1x to 1.1x.

We expect the Striker to remain a competitive option thanks to its fire rate and excellent accuracy. However, these changes reduce its damage output at long distances, preventing it from outperforming Assault Rifles. Adjustments to damage multipliers intend to increase the consistency of this weapon.

KILLSTREAKS
  • Guardian-SC
    • Decreased health from 550 to 400 (-27%).
    • Decreased lifetime from 120s to 60s (-50%).
MODES
  • Ground War
    • Vehicles driven by the player no longer have limited fuel.
  • Hardpoint
    • Disabled overhead spawn camera sequence upon respawn.
MAPS
  • Estate
    • Added collision near various areas of the Waterfall to prevent players from accessing unintended locations.
  • Favela
    • Players will no longer be killed immediately after respawning near the yellow car on the Side Street.
  • Popov Power (Ground War)
    • Added collision near Reactor Beta to prevent players from accessing an unintended location.

Our team is investigating reports of poor spawn selection quality and making adjustments for launch. In the meantime, please be sure to clip unfavorable spawns and share them with us!

OPERATORS
  • Operator movement animations will now play properly in the moments following a respawn.

UIX

  • Added a missing icon for the Incursion XII Long Barrel Attachment for the SVA 545.
  • Players will now be properly notified of Playlist updates while idling in the menus.
STABILITY
  • Addressed a crash that occurred while matchmaking in the Ground War playlist.
  • Addressed multiple crashes that occurred while launching the game.
  • Resolved an issue that caused an error message stating “a required network service has failed” upon attempting to join another player’s party.
Related Products
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS5 Standard)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox Cross-Gen)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox Vault Edition)
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