Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s overpowered MP5 got a nerf

The MP5 submachine gun has absolutely dominated the first several days of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s multiplayer. Thankfully Treyarch has released an emergency nerf to hopefully pull it back into line with the game’s other weapons.

On Wednesday, Treyarch let fans know on Twitter that it had released a quick update to the MP5 to reduce its effective damage range by 33%, and adjusted its initial recoil. While this isn’t the “take it out of the game” nerf that some players hoped for, it should help make the MP5 less of a dominant force.

Part of the initial problem with the weapon was that it simply didn’t have any weaknesses. It had a high rate-of-fire, solid damage, good stability, and very little damage drop off at long ranges. Those last two points are the ones Treyarch chose to target. In doing so, the dev took the gun from a de-facto assault rifle and tuned it back down to SMG status, where it will only be effective at shorter ranges. Fans have been extremely vocal about their frustrations with the weapon since the game’s first day of release.

This nerf is the first balance update that Black Ops Cold War has received and it seems Treyarch doesn’t plan on releasing another for the foreseeable future. According to Treyarch lead game designer Tony Flame on Twitter, the studio is limiting this update to just the MP5 and is planning a larger balance pass on weapons for the beginning of season 1, which is currently scheduled for December.