MW4 Launch Patch Notes: SMGs Buffed, One-Shot Guns Tamed, Tac Sprint Locked to Blood Rush

Modern Warfare 4 goes live tomorrow, October 23, and Infinity Ward has shown exactly how the game will play on day one. On October 21 the studio published the full launch patch notes on callofduty.com, covering weapon tuning, perks, movement, spawns and killstreaks since the Multiplayer Beta. The short version: SMGs get stronger, one-shot weapons get reined in, and Tactical Sprint now costs you a perk slot.

Weapon balance: SMGs up, one-shots down

Infinity Ward says players clearly preferred the slower time-to-kill from Beta Weekend 2, so that TTK stays, but the weapon balance needed more work. For launch:

• SMGs are "more efficient in close to mid-range combat."
• Powerful one-hit-kill weapons are toned down with flinch and damage tuning.
• Every weapon got a "deep balance pass," and all attachments were retuned.
• Advanced Weapon Stats are in the game at launch, so you can compare numbers before building a class.

The arsenal is 33 weapons in total, including five SMGs: the ISO Nightshade, VEL 46, Wz.55 Striga, PPSh-41 and X-58 Nyx.

No more redundant unlocks

Attachments are shared. According to the patch notes, once you unlock a shared attachment it works right away on every weapon that can take it, so leveling each new gun gets faster. Weapon Prestige is back for players who want the old grind: prestiging a weapon locks its attachments and puts that gun on a classic level-by-level unlock path. A new Optic Rail Placement option also lets you move your sight for a cosmetic ADS tweak.

Perks and Tactical Sprint

We covered the Warzone Tactical Sprint debate earlier. In MW4 multiplayer, Infinity Ward is keeping the Beta change: Tac Sprint is not available by default. It now lives on Blood Rush, a Perk 2 option. To make up for the perk slot, Tac Sprint loses its extra sprint-out penalty, and the default input is "single tap run," so you Tac Sprint as long as stamina lasts. Double-tap and single-tap sprint options are still in Movement Advanced Settings.

Other perk buffs:

• Battle Hardened blocks more of the effects of Flash, Concussion and Screamer Mine.
• Resupply gives your first recharge faster.

Flash and Concussion grenades also get a slightly shorter range and duration.

Spawns, UAVs and maps

Spawn logic has been reworked across maps with a focus on player separation, squad spawns and Hardpoint predictability. UAV health rises from 100 to 150, while UAVs still cost 5 kills (4 with Hardline). The Wheelson also gets more aggressive targeting. At launch you get 20 multiplayer maps (12 core 6v6, three Ground War, four Gunfight and Kill Block), over a dozen modes and 33 Operators. For the full feature rundown, see our MW4 multiplayer explainer.

Known issues to watch

The notes also repeat this week's DMZ fixes, which we covered in our early access patch report. Insider Gaming's summary of the official Trello board lists seven open issues, including matchmaking quality, DLSS being unavailable while the VRRT Denoiser is on, and DMZ Free Loadouts loading in with no weapons.

What's next

• October 23: Modern Warfare 4 launches worldwide, and the first in-game Event starts that same day.
• Next week: Infected and the new Possession mode arrive for Halloween.
• Season 1: the new Warzone and the shared camo grind. Weekly Challenges will not appear in Season 1, because Infinity Ward is focusing on Events.