This would not be the first time that Treyarch made a change to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War without mentioning it in patch notes, as the studio secretly nerfed the combat knife ahead of Season 1’s release. Players believe the same thing has happened with the game’s XP, with a popular Reddit post seeing numerous players point out some disappointing changes to earn rates. With multiple modes impacted by these changes, the community has spoken up about the undisclosed nerf to progression.
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The post was started by Redditor Jzlegit, who highlights the various areas where XP rates have been changed. According to the player, “Dirty Bomb XP was nerfed” alongside “leveling XP.” Beyond that, it would appear that “Zombies XP seems to be nerfed” as well. While the player also points out that battle pass progression takes a long time, there is no previous comparison to be made as this is the first battle pass for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
While some fans felt they prestiged too quickly in the preseason, many more seem to see ranking up slower as a downside. While Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s ongoing double XP event will combat the issue for now, it could become far more troublesome once the XP bonus is removed. The nerfed Fireteam Dirty Bomb XP is the bigger problem for players, however, as the mode was previously the quickest way to rank up weaponry. While Treyarch’s intent may be to keep fans playing, gamers are certainly not happy with the hidden change.
Zombies fans will likely be extra disappointed with this news, as players were previously ranking up slowly due to a Zombies-specific progression bug. While that bug has since been removed, it appears fans of the survival mode are still leveling up slowly, as one Reddit user shares their experience with the new leveling speed. NFSEdenShores shares that they “played 60 rounds total” of Zombies, yet somehow managed to only level up twice — adding that the XP earn rate is “ridiculous.”
Whether Treyarch address the XP issues remains to be seen, though players will likely make their voices heard on the issue. Like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s skill-based matchmaking, XP had been a hot button issue for fans, and it certainly seems that it will continue to be one for some time.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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