Modern Warfare 3 Will Begin Testing Restricted Weapons in Ranked Play

April 16, 2024

Highlights

Ranked play in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will see restricted weapons like BP50 and HRM-9 added for evaluation.
Treyarch and Sledgehammer are conducting weapon evaluations to keep up with player strategies and ensure competitive balance.
Player feedback on the added weapons will help developers decide their viability in official competitive esports play.

Some currently restricted weapons may be coming to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 ranked play modes in an upcoming test. Developers Treyarch Studios and Sledgehammer games announced that a planned evaluation of various Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 weapons will take place to determine the weapons’ viability in the competitive scene.

Maintaining one of the most popular multiplayer games in the world takes a lot of testing and resources, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is no exception to that rule. With vast player counts constantly competing for supremacy on the game’s leaderboards and ranking systems, Call of Duty needs constant adjustment via patches and updates to keep up with the pace of players pushing at the game’s limits and finding new “meta” strategies and loadouts to guarantee victory. As a matter of course, developers like Treyarch and Sledgehammer conduct limited testing on live servers to take advantage of the huge player population, using live tests to gather crucial data on any given item or strategy’s impact on the competitive scene.

Call of Duty is often on the grittier side in terms of tone, and though Modern Warfare 3 is no different, one silly map could make things more fun.

The latest live test planned for the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 competitive environment is what Treyarch calls a “Weapon Evaluation.” The test follows from the success of a previous “Map Evaluation,” which returned several restricted maps to the game’s Ranked play rotation. The Weapon Evaluation will, according to an announcement made on Treyarch’s official social media accounts, add several weapons that are currently restricted from selection in ranked play. Given that any additions or removals can shake up how players decide which weapons are the latest Call of Duty meta guns, Weapon Evaluations can have significant consequences for the competitive scene.

New Modern Warfare 3 Weapon Test Will Add Restricted Weapons to Ranked Play

The weapons temporarily joining the Ranked Play loadout selection for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 as part of the Weapon Evaluation consists of three Assault Rifles and two Submachine Guns:

Assault Rifles

BP50 Assault Rifle
Holger 556 Assault Rifle
MTZ-556 Assault Rifle

Submachine Guns

The selection includes weapons that are considered part of the “meta” high-performing picks for Warzone, such as the HRM-9 and RAM-9 Submachine Guns. Players will be able to choose them freely and can submit feedback via social media. Meanwhile, Treyarch and Sledgehammer will review the data gathered behind the scenes, eventually making the decision of whether or not to add the weapons to the competitive ruleset used by the Call of Duty League, the game’s official competitive esports league.

Player response to the announcement was mixed, with some players expressing excitement that favored Modern Warfare 3 weapons like the MTZ-556 might be joining official ranked play, while other players were skeptical that a decision that ultimately affected the pro leagues would truly affect the meta for the larger player base, due to the differing motivations and skill sets between pro Call of Duty players and random folks online.