Today marks a major event for Call of Duty with the release of the Squid Game collaboration and a huge update for Black Ops 6 and Warzone.
In this new update, you can sprint through doors and climb faster in Black Ops 6, Zombies, and Warzone. Plus, there’s a cool new melee weapon, the Cleaver, available through the Squid Game event pass, but it costs 1,100 COD Points for the special track.
Heads up: some players might find their Operator settings and looks reset, and Activision hasn’t really explained why, so you might have to start fresh.
New multiplayer modes themed around Squid Game are here, like Red Light, Green Light, and a tricky one called Roulette Handgun. This mode gives you a powerful gun, but watch out, it might just explode on you!
There aren’t any changes to weapon balance, but Scorestreaks in Black Ops 6 have been tweaked. The RC-XD deals less damage now, and Care Packages give fewer Scout Pulses. The Sentry Turret, on the other hand, got tougher and fires faster, and the Watchdog Helo hits harder too.
In the Zombies world, there’s a new Squid Game mode called Dead Light, Green Light. You kill zombies during the Green Light phase, but if you move during Red Light, you lose some of your essence. Dead Light brings tougher zombie waves, so be ready!
Warzone’s January 3 patch fixes several bugs, like the exfil animation in Ranked Play not working. It also fixes issues with the Advanced UAV and money drops.
And now, Warzone’s Urzikstan map features a Squid Game mode with rotating challenges, where teams get knocked out each round until only one is left. Red Light, Green Light can even happen between rounds.
Fans always love these big updates, don’t they?
For all the nitty-gritty details, check out the full patch notes below, as shared by Activision.
Oh, and by the way, Squid Game’s second season is out, and season 3 is coming later this year.
Friday, January 3, 2025
GLOBAL
Movement
- Everyone’s climbing faster now.
- You can run through doors without stopping.
Weapons
- Get the new Cleaver in the event rewards.
- Fixed a problem with certain guns blocking your view when using the Dark Practitioner Tracer Pack Bundle.
- Fixed an issue with Gun Screens not showing on the Saug Mecha-Drake Mastercraft Blueprint.
- The Hawker Hybrid optic now works right with the Ginger Dread Blueprint.
UI
- The After Action Report (AAR) flow got better.
- Added a button to exit anytime and a timer.
- There’s now a Summary at the end.
- It’s easier to read when you’re looking for a match.
- Fixed an issue where you couldn’t preview Gun Screens.
NOTE: Some players may see their Operator selections and Operator customizations reset after this update.
MULTIPLAYER
Modes
- Red Light, Green Light (NEW)
- Watch out for Young-hee! Play three rounds of Red Light, Green Light in the Red Card stadium. Each round lasts two minutes.
- Round 1 is weapon-free. In Rounds 2 and 3, you can grab weapons from the ground and take out others with melee and Finishing Moves. But remember, when Young-hee says “Green Light,” it’s go time. If you move after “Red Light,” you’re out.
- Pentathlon (NEW)
- Show your skills in various Multiplayer modes like Domination, Kill Confirmed, and Hardpoint, plus two new modes: Piggy Bank Team Deathmatch and Roulette.
- In Piggy Bank TDM, every kill adds to the Mega Piggy Bank score. Fight to grab the big payout when it drops during the match.
- In Roulette, each shot with the Roulette Handgun gives double points, but there’s a risk it’ll blow up in your hands!
- Show your skills in various Multiplayer modes like Domination, Kill Confirmed, and Hardpoint, plus two new modes: Piggy Bank Team Deathmatch and Roulette.
- Squid Game Moshpit (NEW)
- Jump into the Squid Game Moshpit with Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Hardpoint. You get three special Squid Game-themed features:
- Red Light, Green Light Scorestreak: If the fight gets too wild, freeze your foes by calling “Red Light.” Anyone moving risks getting eliminated.
- Piggy Bank: When someone gets eliminated, they might drop a Piggy Bank. Pick it up for a small score boost. A bigger Piggy Bank can appear, so fight to get all the points in it.
- Roulette Handgun: High risk, high reward! Pick it up for a permanent UAV effect and one-shot eliminations for extra score. But everyone will see your location, and each shot might blow up the gun and you with it.
- Jump into the Squid Game Moshpit with Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Hardpoint. You get three special Squid Game-themed features:
- Prop Hunt
- Improved the sound of Prop whistles.
- Fixed an issue where the Prop UI stayed when switching to the Hunter team.
- Fixed a bug where Props could block doors if they locked in place.
Wildcards
- High Roller (NEW)
- Lets you equip up to four Scorestreaks.
Scorestreaks
- RC-XD
- The max damage of the RC-XD is reduced a bit.
- Archangel Launcher
- Fixed a rare issue where the next bullet after using the Archangel Launcher could be an Archangel rocket.
- Care Package
- Scout Pulse Scorestreaks are now less common in Care Packages.
- LDBR
- Lowered the damage LDBR does to its owner.
- Reduced score needed from 950 to 800.
- Sentry Turret
- Sentry Turret now fires faster.
- It has more HP now.
- Score needed reduced from 1000 to 950.
- Hellstorm
- Score needed reduced from 1050 to 1000.
- Watchdog Helo
- Watchdog Helo does a bit more damage now.
- Increased accuracy when targeting a new enemy.
- Reduced score needed from 1100 to 1050.
- Strategic Bomber
- Score needed reduced from 1300 to 1100.
- A.G.R. MK 1
- Top speed increased.
- Acceleration improved.
- Fixed an issue where A.G.R. MK 1 had less HP than intended.
- Dreadnought
- Dreadnought HP increased a bit.
- Score needed reduced from 1800 to 1700.
UI
- Fixed an issue where the wrong Finisher was sometimes previewed.
- Fixed various text overlap issues.
- Correct Calling Cards now show during the Winner’s Circle in Free-For-All.
Audio
- Emote sound effects range is reduced.
ZOMBIES
Maps
- Citadelle des Morts
- Elemental Sword Wonder Weapons
- General
- All swords can now hit up to two enemies per swing. Extra hit damage depends on distance.
- Damage is 100% at close-to-medium range and 50% beyond that.
- You can now parry Amalgam grabs with Elemental Swords.
- Fixed an issue where sword damage went down using the Void Sheath Augment for Aether Shroud.
- Balmung
- Ability happens more often when charged.
- Reduced kills needed to charge from 40 to 25.
- Cooldown decreased from 20 to 10 seconds.
- Lowered chance to activate passive effects due to shorter cooldowns.
- Durandel
- Special attack damage increased.
- Electric Beam special attack damage per tick increased from 40% to 65% of base zombie health.
- Ability happens more often when charged.
- Cooldown decreased from 25 to 3 seconds.
- Lowered chance to activate passive effects due to shorter cooldowns.
- Fixed an issue where Durandel’s charged attack wasn’t visible to others.
- Caliburn
- Adjusted to activate Napalm Burst Augments when the sword procs, like Balmung and Durandal.
- Solais
- Armor regeneration ability effectiveness slightly reduced.
- Swing interrupt time for sword swing slightly increased.
- Armor regeneration percentage lowered from 5% to 4% per swing.
- General
- Main Quest
- Fixed an issue where players couldn’t pick up the Lightning Rod depending on where it dropped.
- The Lightning Rod zombie returns to the Dungeon if no players are nearby.
- Fixed an issue where activating the Time Out GobbleGum during the Main Quest boss fight respawned eliminated players in the starting area and downed them.
- Players now respawn in the boss fight arena.
- Fixed an issue where Special Round effects didn’t disable when entering the Main Quest boss fight.
- Adjusted Deadshot ADS placement to be more accurate against the Main Quest boss.
- Fixed an issue where Krafft spoke to the player before interacting with him in the Dungeon.
- Fixed an issue where saving and quitting in a Solo match before talking to Krafft prevented Main Quest progression after loading the save.
- Fixed an issue where the Light Ritual mirrors couldn’t be interacted with after a player joined in progress.
- Fixed an issue where wisps in the Light Challenge for the Mystic Orb froze visually but still counted toward completion.
- Fixed an issue where the Mystic Orb wasn’t visible to players joining in progress after the Knight’s Ceremony.
- Fixed an issue where Main Quest progress wasn’t saved when picking up the Mystic Orb after the Knight’s Ceremony and saving and quitting in a Solo match. Fixed an issue where the Durendal sword floated upon loading into a saved Solo match.
- Fixed an issue where melee weapons couldn’t open one of the locks on the Pack-a-Punch container.
- Closed an exploit where players took no damage and couldn’t move when failing the Sanctuary timed challenge.
- Fixed instances where specific interactions led to blank objective text.
- Fixed an issue where the Blood Aetherium Crystal got stuck in a non-playable area.
- Fixed visual effects spawning in non-intended locations.
- Updated the model for the Mystic Orb.
- Elemental Sword Wonder Weapons
- Terminus
- Fixed an issue where players respawned by progressing a round during the Main Quest boss fight with the Time Out GobbleGum couldn’t see the boss’s health bar.
- Fixed an issue where the Workshop Lockdown Main Quest step ended early by placing a Shock Charge after starting.
- Speed Boost option now works during the Boat Race Side Quest.
- Dead Light, Green Light (NEW)
- Play a zombie version of stop-and-go in Dead Light, Green Light. During “Green Light,” you get extra Essence for killing zombies. When “Red Light” is called, moving drains your Essence, so spend it or stay still to keep it. “Dead Light” brings tougher enemies, so get ready.
- First available in Citadelle des Morts, then Liberty Falls after Week 1.
- Directed Mode
- Directed Mode now available for Citadelle des Morts with special rewards.
- NOTE: The deadline for Main Quest early completion rewards for Citadelle des Morts in Standard Mode is extended to the end of Season 01 to give players more time.
- Extended time between rounds and delay between spawning zombies after five looped rounds at the round cap in Directed Mode.
- Directed Mode now available for Citadelle des Morts with special rewards.
- Training Course
- Fixed an issue that stopped the “Getting New Weapons” station from progressing.
- Fixed an issue where players lost the ability to equip a second weapon if the “Weapon Cycle” setting was enabled.
- Fixed an issue leaving the player vulnerable while teleporting with “Anywhere But Here!” or “Nowhere But There” GobbleGums.
- Shadow Rift
- Big Game
- Big Game no longer deals lethal damage to Elite enemies.
- Big Game
- Aether Shroud
- Void Sheath Augment
- Fixed an issue where melee weapon damage wasn’t increased.
- Void Sheath Augment
- Mutant Injection
- Fixed an issue where Mangler Cannon effects stayed on the screen after the Scorestreak ended.
- Chopper Gunner
- Fixed an issue where the gun from the Chopper Gunner could be used after the Scorestreak ended.
- Sentry Turret
- Fixed an issue preventing a Sentry Turret from being placed after using the Balmung charged ability.
- Fire Sale
- Fixed an issue where Fire Sale rarely left an extra Mystery Box on the map.
- Doppelghast
- Fixed an issue where the needle blast from a Doppelghast affected by Brain Rot could harm the player.
- Vermin
- Fixed an issue where Vermin sometimes hit twice with one attack.
- Splitscreen
- Fixed an issue where zombies sometimes ignored the host player.
- Camo Challenges
- Fixed an issue where Pack-a-Punched GS45s didn’t progress the Siamese Camo after Military Camo progression was complete.
- Daily Challenges
- Fixed an issue where the “Drink 3 Perk-a-Colas” Daily Challenge didn’t progress.
- Calling Card Challenges
- Prestige 3: Explosive Surprise
- Fixed an issue where the Explosive Surprise Prestige 3 Calling Card Challenge wasn’t tracking properly.
- Prestige 8: Close Call
- Updated this Challenge to count kills from teleporting with the “Anywhere But Here!” GobbleGum.
- Updated this Challenge to include “Nowhere But There!” GobbleGums.
- Fixed issues that stopped the following challenges from tracking properly:
- Trophy Hunter: “Madness”
- Prestige 6: “Gullible”
- Prestige 7: “Old Faithful”
- Prestige 10: “Stupify”
- Prestige 3: Explosive Surprise
- Fixed an issue allowing players to gain Battle Ready Wildcard benefits while grabbing a loadout with a different Wildcard.
- Fixed an issue causing enemy parachute sounds to occlude improperly, making enemies seem closer than they were.
- Fixed an issue preventing players from using an Advanced UAV after already calling one in during the match.
- Fixed an issue preventing controller players from using a Killstreak if it isn’t on the HUD.
- Fixed an issue preventing players from dropping stacks of $500.
- Fixed an issue preventing spawn protection on Rebirth Island from working right.
- Fixed an issue preventing the exfil animation from playing in Ranked Play.
- Fixed an issue that could kick players out of a match when leaving a chat channel.