Infinity Ward has just dropped new Modern Warfare 4 open beta patch notes for its ongoing public test, with a new mode, two more maps, and some light tweaks to weapon balance. Following last weekend’s early access, the floodgates have been thrown wide open, but not before the developer made sweeping changes to key elements of the game, such as moving tactical sprint from a base feature to a perk, and adjusting spawn logic. Today’s update also speeds up Kill Confirmed, and solves an issue with missing Care Packages.
Friday’s open beta update also introduced some pretty dramatic balance changes to the multiplayer game, with every single weapon being adjusted prior to this weekend’s playtest. With that in mind, Infinity Ward says it’s “keeping the updates to weapons minimal” in today’s Modern Warfare 4 patch notes. “Your feedback on weapons and their impact on TTK (time to kill) is incredibly important, so keep sharing your experiences this weekend as we look at potential changes.”
The most notable adjustment we do get is that all weapons that have fewer than 60 rounds of ammunition in reserve will be given an extra magazine (or the equivalent where this isn’t applicable), in response to the TTK adjustments. This is designed to “allow you to stay in the fight longer before seeking new sources of ammunition.”
The other big change is a significant damage nerf to the .50 GS, MW4’s take on the real-life Desert Eagle. Its maximum damage (within 20.3 meters) has been lowered from 46 down to 34, and its output beyond that has also dropped, with a more gradual falloff than before. Previously it was 37 across the board; now it’s 30 up until 44.4 meters, and 27 beyond that.
The new mode for today is Ground War: Combat Outpost. It’s a newcomer for Modern Warfare 4, one Infinity Ward describes as a reimagination of Domination for the larger-scale format. You’ve got 24 players on each side, bigger maps (Wolves Stadium and Imjin Farmlands) featuring infantry and vehicles, and any captured outposts can be used as spawn points, making it most reminiscent of Battlefield’s Conquest format. There are also “escalating team rewards” to earn, ranging from local UAVs to armored vehicle support.
Elsewhere, Kill Confirmed tags will now be available for pickup immediately as they drop, with no delay, and the pickup radius has been increased to make grabbing them easier. Infinity Ward says it has also fixed several notable bugs, including Care Packages sometimes failing to appear when called in, teammate dots getting stuck on the mini-map, and visual issues that could occur after being hit with a Snapshot Grenade.
This Modern Warfare 4 open beta patch and the Ground War: Combat Outpost mode will be available on Saturday August 29 from 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST / 7pm CEST. The beta runs until Tuesday September 1. “Keep playing, keep experimenting, and keep the feedback coming,” Infinity Ward concludes. “We’ve still got plenty of beta left and more changes to make.”