Infinity Ward has released a second round of patch notes for the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta, adding a new 6v6 map called Lotus, introducing a 3v3 Gunfight mode and making another pass over weapon and attachment balance. PCGamesN reports that the update rolls out on Sunday, August 23 at 10am PT.
Lotus is not the map the studio had previously signalled. Infinity Ward had pointed to Lithium as the next addition; that map is now scheduled for next week, with Lotus joining the 6v6 rotation in its place. Gunfight is played on Kill Block, and the update also adds a Transit 24/7 playlist. Search & Destroy went live separately a few hours after the previous update, which the developer says was a response to player requests.
Spawns and time to kill remain open problems
Spawn behaviour has been one of the most-reported frustrations of the beta, and Infinity Ward used the notes to address it directly, saying the beta lets it find patterns across a large volume of matches.
Based on what we're seeing, we need to improve.
The studio says work on both spawn placement and spawn logic is continuing across all maps and modes, without committing to a date for the changes. It also lists time to kill as an ongoing focus, alongside making underperforming attachments more viable.
Weapon and attachment changes
The weapon pass is mostly a set of nerfs, concentrated on headshot damage:
- The M4, Patriot XMR and PPSh-41 have lower headshot damage multipliers.
- The Kastov 762, ISO Nightshade, X-58 NYX, FiNN LMG, Type 73 and Krait P68 take headshot multiplier reductions plus additional damage dropoff over range.
- Frangible Rounds lose their stun effect, a second nerf for the attachment.
- The Attack Helicopter killstreak has 45% less health.
Attachments move in both directions. Every weapon laser has been adjusted for clearer visuals, the ADS speed penalty has been cut on the Holo, Mini Reflex and Reflex optics, and every muzzle has had its listed pros, cons and stats rewritten in the Gunsmith to match how it actually behaves. On the underbarrel, the Bipod, Launcher and Shotgun lose their ADS speed penalty outright, while the Angled Grip and Vertical Grip have theirs reduced; the Angled Grip also takes a smaller sprint-to-fire penalty, and the Vertical Grip gains 17% jog speed and 50% strafe speed.
Audio tuning continues as well, with the stated aim of making combat cues easier to pick out. The Artillery Beacon has been remixed, and Kill Confirmed pickups, Domination captures, Frag Grenade fuses and the Attack Helicopter are all louder, while explosions on Transit 213 are slightly quieter. Infinity Ward lists Hardpoint spawns on Transit 213, inaccurate kill cams, excessive Gunny notifications and shorter countdowns — including map voting time — as the next items on its list.