It's okay, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's sniper rifles will be nerfed soon

(Image credit: Activision)

A developer working on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has promised players that the team intentionally buffed sniper rifles in the recent alpha test "to evaluate their performance", adding that snipers "WILL have balance changes" when the upcoming beta goes live.

"Ok let's talk Sniping in Cold War," said Treyarch's Tony Flame on Twitter over the weekend (thanks, VG24/7). "Crossplay is coming, but we knew it wouldn't be in Alpha. We buffed Snipers to evaluate their performance in this Alpha specifically. Sniper Rifles WILL have balance changes for the upcoming Beta based on our analytics data this weekend."

The tweet comes after players flocked to social media to complain about quickscoping snipers dominating play for most of the alpha. 

Flame also confirmed that the setting to turn off motion blur – which currently resets itself after every match – should also be addressed for the beta, which will be open for players across all platforms. 

Treyarch and Raven Software announced that a Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Alpha was taking place exclusively on PS4 this weekend. The news was announced at the PS5 showcase broadcast earlier this week, which also gave us a first look at gameplay from the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War campaign. 

If the alpha really whetted your appetite and you can't get enough of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War right now, check out our recent Black Ops Cold War multiplayer hands-on in which Leon got to try out a range of maps and modes to get a feel for what these new Call of Duty maps are bringing.

"Scale is the main thing, with bigger spaces suggesting battle royale's more open design has fed into the new levels," Leon said, before taking us through all the maps we've seen thus far. "That's balanced with more objective-based modes that support emphasis on controlling zones or protecting VIPs. We'll have to wait to see more obviously to get a better idea of the full offering." 

To make sure you get the best deal on the game, check out our Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War pre-orders page.

Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.