Major Black Ops Cold War update detailed ahead of today’s launch

Treyarch has detailed the next major Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War update ahead of its imminent release.

Launching at 11pm PT on February 3 (2am ET/7am GMT on February 4), the update includes new Zombies and multiplayer content, fresh modes and featured playlists, plus gameplay improvements, bug fixes and weapon tuning, all of which is detailed in the patch notes, which we’ve republished below.

Headlining the update are new Zombies map Firebase Z, which is set in the jungles of Vietnam, and 6v6 multiplayer map Express, which was originally included in Black Ops 2 and takes place in a hi-tech train station.

Of note, the update also addresses an issue that could result in “choppy” voice chat.

And Treyarch has confirmed plans to launch a double XP weekend for all Black Ops Cold War and Warzone players, beginning at 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm UK on Feb 5 and running for 72 hours. PS4 and PS5 players get double XP access 24 hours earlier, beginning on February 4.

Black Ops Cold War patch notes

GLOBAL

• Addressed an issue that led to choppy Voice Chat in some circumstances.

MULTIPLAYER

Maps

• Express [NEW]
  • Express now available in map rotation in Core and Hardcore modes.
  • Express 24/7 playlist now available.
• General
  • Addressed an issue with uneven map distribution in non-map voting playlists.

Modes

• Endurance (40 Players) [NEW]
  • New high-player count mode available on Sanatorium, Ruka, and Alpine.
  • After one bomb detonates, a new one comes online to take its place, so five bombs are always available instead of an initial set that gets reduced to a single bomb before the next wave.
  • Score limit doubled from 500 to 1,000.
• Prop Hunt
  • Added new maps to Prop Hunt rotation:
    • Express
    • Raid
    • Crossroads Strike
    • Armada Strike
• Gunfight
  • Added Nuketown ’84 to Gunfight map rotation.
  • 2v2 and 3v3 Gunfight now available in Custom Games.
• Hardpoint
  • Updated Hardpoint Owned score event to increase in score the longer a player controls the Hardpoint. This score modifier will reset upon leaving the Hardpoint.
  • Reduced Hardpoint Secured score event from 50 to 25 score.
• Dropkick
  • Reduced how late players can join a match in progress.
• Control
  • Additional defender spawn points added and logic updated for the B capture point on Raid.
• CDL Custom Game Modes
  • Increased player count to allow for two Spectators in CDL Hardpoint, CDL Search & Destroy, and CDL Control.

Featured Playlists

• Express 24/7 [NEW]
• Endurance FTDB (40 Players) [NEW]
• Gunfight Blueprints (including Nuketown ’84)
• Prop Hunt (4 maps added to rotation)
• 3v3 Gunfight Snipers Only
• Face Off (3v3)
• Nuketown 24/7

Weapons

• Launchers
  • Increased minimum damage for the two Launcher class weapons.

Equipment

• Addressed an issue where players inside smoke from a Smoke Grenade would gain aim assist against players outside the smoke.
• Decreased hip-fire accuracy when priming a grenade while sprinting.

Music Player

• Original Treyarch music unlocked via War Tracks can now be played in the Music Player in the Barracks, including “Pentagon,” “Rooftops,” “115,” and “Damned.”

ZOMBIES

Maps

• Firebase Z [NEW]
  • New “Firebase Z” map now available via Endless and Round 20 playlists for all players.
• Die Maschine
  • Players can now complete the full Omega Intel collection in “Die Maschine.”
  • Addressed an issue on “Die Maschine” that rarely positioned players outside of the map when teleporting from the Dark Aether.
• Express (Onslaught – PS4/PS5)
  • Express now available in Onslaught on PlayStation.

Featured Playlists

• Firebase Z Endless [NEW]
• Firebase Z Round 20 [NEW]
• Dead Ops Arcade Solo Advanced Start [NEW]
• Onslaught Express [NEW] (PS4/PS5)

Perks

• Tombstone Soda [NEW]
  • Tombstone Soda Perk now available in “Firebase Z” and via Der Wunderfizz in “Die Maschine.”
• Quick Revive
  • Addressed an issue that prevented Quick Revive from reducing the time it takes to regenerate to full health.

Support

• Napalm Strike [NEW]
  • Napalm Strike now available as Support in Zombies.
• Artillery [NEW]
  • Artillery now available as Support in Zombies.
• Self-Revive
  • The Self-Revive will now only drop if a player in the game can equip it.
  • Capped the maximum amount of Self-Revives that can drop in a game to the total number of players in the game.
• Sentry Turret
  • Addressed an issue that allowed duplicating the Sentry Turret support item.

Weapons

• Assault Rifles
  • Increased critical hit damage on all assault rifles.
  • Increased max ammo stock on all assault rifles.
• Submachine Guns
  • Increased critical hit damage on all SMGs.
  • Increased max ammo stock on all SMGs.
• Shotguns
  • Increased base damage on the Streetsweeper shotgun.
  • Increased range of the Streetsweeper shotgun.
• Blueprints
  • Addressed an issue that prevented attachments from appearing on the “Western Justice” Weapon Blueprint.

Armor

• Level 1 Armor will now replace the first Armor Shard drop in a game when no players have Armor.

Ammo Mods

• Cryofreeze
  • Reduced Cryofreeze cooldown from 3 seconds to 1 second to make it a more dependable method of slowing enemies.

Challenges

• Added new “Requiem Advancement” category of Challenges for future additions.
• Added first set of six new Requiem Advancement Challenges: “Firebase Z Report.”
• Added new Dark Ops Challenge for “Firebase Z.”

Dead Ops Arcade 3

• Solo Advanced Start [NEW]
  • New private playlist available for Solo players.
  • Allows players to start at their highest arena checkpoint reached in Solo mode. No stats or challenges are recorded, but achievements can be completed, including “Reunited with Fidolina.”
• Gameplay
  • Added new pickup item: Divine Shield Potion – Grants player Divine Shield buff that allows player to absorb one damage event (30 min. expiration).
  • Added new key spawn locations: Added to the high road tunnel route.
  • Added a 1.5-second damage shield on player while in First Person when damage occurs.
  • Made slight adjustment to multiplier progression.
  • Auto-life donation now begins automatically after Round 64. The player with the highest lives to spare will now donate to downed teammates with a cooldown of 120 seconds.
  • Addressed an issue where the player’s shield was active even though effect was not visible.
  • Addressed an issue that prevented extra lives from being awarded at expected score thresholds.
  • Various gameplay bug fixes related to Fated Chicken disappearance, control bindings when exiting vehicles, unwanted deaths associated with traps, invisible electrical poles, missile turrets killing players, etc.
• Enemies and Friendly AI
  • Greatly reduced Spider melee range.
  • Removed Skeleton boss from arena spawning.
  • Removed Demons from arena spawning.
  • Reduced Megaton melee distance.
  • Reduced Megaton arena spawn rate after Round 64.
  • Reduced Megaton health in arena.
  • Megaton Orb weapon is no longer a one-hit kill in arena.
  • After Round 64, enemy target selection behavior is now weighted entirely toward proximity.
  • Increased friendly skeleton horde health, enemy quantity, time duration, and weapon damage.
  • Addressed an issue where melee damage caused by a friendly skeleton guardian was not registering against enemies.
  • Addressed an issue where zombies could speed up while under the clock time slowdown effect.
  • Addressed an issue where explosive damage vs. Spider / Meatball enemies did not register correctly.
  • Addressed an issue where Spider enemies would not show up on radar.
  • Addressed an issue that allowed the Gladiator “Marauder” enemy to melee kill the player when it wasn’t facing the appropriate direction.
  • Addressed an issue where the Margwa was not dropping loot when killed.
• Fates
  • Divine Chalice fated players now earn extra life 37.5% faster than standard players at every 125,000 points.
  • Divine Chalice fated users now respawn with temporary vitality buff.
  • Divine Shield fated players now respawn with Divine Shield buff.
  • After Round 64, when a Divine Shield fated player picks up a nuke drop, all players will now be granted a nuke.
  • Friendship fated player chickens now last 25% longer.
  • The Golden Chicken associated with Friendship Fate now periodically produces eggs in arena.
  • After Round 64, the Golden Chicken associated with Friendship Fate will now have permanently upgraded weaponry.
  • Addressed an issue that could prevent players from collecting a Fate in the Room of Fate when the room timed out (i.e. grabbing a Fate Rock with less than 4 seconds before the room expired).
• Visuals
  • Added lighting in the Room of Fate above Fate Rock pedestals five and six.
  • Addressed an issue with various particle effects having visibility issues.
  • Addressed an issue that could prevent the player’s selected character skin from showing up correctly.
  • Weapons
  • Addressed an issue with the shotgun pickup that could cause it to initially begin firing slowly before speeding up.
• Stability
  • Added various crash fixes.
• General
  • Added various exploit fixes.
  • Added new camera mode: Extra High.
  • Addressed an issue where the player was not able to use the flashlight in First Person.
  • Addressed an issue with some collision in the Water Temple arena.
  • Addressed an issue in splitscreen mode where players would enter The Wild in shared viewport mode.

Onslaught (PS4/PS5)

• Onslaught Express playlist now available on PlayStation. [NEW]
• Spaced out special enemy spawns.
• Added additional enemies to the mode from “Firebase Z.”

Stability

• Added various crash fixes.

General

• Party Leader is no longer required to have Dead Ops Arcade 3 installed for their party to join for other Zombies game modes.
• Addressed an issue that caused zombies to maintain a slowdown debuff forever if it ended while they were mantling.

From Beenox:

PC

Stability

• Added various crash fixes.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when watching a replay in Theater.
• Fixed a crash that could prevent the game from starting under some conditions on Windows 7.

General

• Addressed an issue that could result in loss of keyboard/mouse functionality when opening and closing the Windows key + G capture menu.
• Addressed an issue where players could get stuck in the pause menu under certain circumstances during a game.

Further reading

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