MW4 Hitscan Range Boosted 3.91x, Bullets Land 34ms Faster, Ranked Play Confirmed for Season 2

Your close-range shots in Modern Warfare 4 now land instantly from much further away. In its November 11 patch notes, Infinity Ward confirmed that every ballistic weapon received a "3.91x hitscan increase at all ranges", pushing true hitscan range to about 35 meters on average. The same weekly update brought a faster long-range bullet model and, according to Insider Gaming, confirmation that Ranked Play arrives in Season 2.

It lands one day after the Nov 10 update 1.112 that switched off UAVs in X01.

Why hitscan range shrank at launch

MW4 treats each bullet as an instant hit up to a set distance, then hands it to a ballistic simulation with travel time and drop. Infinity Ward explains that it raised the refresh rate of that simulation "more than what we had ever done before" to make long-range leading more reliable, but that this "reduced the initial hitscan range of weapons" as a side effect.

What changed

The fix shipped with the November 10 update and was announced in that night's weekly update video. The studio repeated it in the patch notes "for additional visibility":

• 3.91x hitscan increase for all ballistic weapons at all ranges, described as a 288% increase in true hitscan distance from launch.
• About 35 meters of average true hitscan range, which Infinity Ward says makes short-range gunfights "more responsive".
• 34 milliseconds faster: a new long-range simulation technique cuts the time ballistic bullets take to connect, which should make mid- and long-range AR fights feel more consistent.
• Every mode: the change "is global and applies to all modes", and Raven Software copied the entry into the Warzone Season 1 patch notes the same day.

The November 11 notes list no weapon damage changes alongside it, so this is about how quickly hits register, not how hard guns hit.

Ranked Play is coming in Season 2

Infinity Ward's X post promised "the latest on Ranked Play", and Insider Gaming quotes the studio confirming that "Ranked for Warzone and multiplayer will be coming in Season 2", built together with Treyarch and Raven Software. The outlet also reports that Hijack will get overtime or another fix to stop tied matches. There's no Season 2 date and no Ranked ruleset yet.

DMZ and Multiplayer fixes

The rest of the November 11 notes are smaller:

• DMZ: the Bombing Run killstreak is disabled in X01, and solos and duos earn Bounties slightly faster.
• Multiplayer: a bigger end-of-match XP bonus for Infected and Ground War, plus a fix for the Astaroth 57 doing too much damage to killstreak vehicles.
• Prestige bug: prestiging no longer strips ammunition attachments from owned Blueprints.

Separately, GamingHQ reports that Kill Block 6v6 in Gunfight has been cut from first-to-six to first-to-three rounds. This change isn't in the official notes, and the outlet says players are pushing back.

What's next

• Now: the hitscan and 34ms changes are already live in every mode, so close-range fights should feel snappier right away.
• Season 2: Ranked Play for MW4 Multiplayer and Warzone. Expect Infinity Ward to share dates and rules in a future weekly update.
• Follow the official patch notes for any further X01 killstreak changes.