Raven Software will remove Warzone's Grappling Hooks this month

Raven Software has confirmed that Grappling Hooks will be taken out of Warzone's standard Battle Royale and Resurgence playlists. The developer announced the change on August 5, Dexerto reports.

The item entered testing with December's Black Ops 7 integration and was rolled out across all modes with the Season 3 update. Raven has not named the patch that will remove it. Dexerto expects the change to arrive in a smaller update in the second half of August rather than in Season 5 Reloaded, which the outlet does not anticipate until early September so it does not collide with the Modern Warfare 4 betas.

A long-running glitch

Grappling Hooks have carried a persistent bug for months in which the hook catches on a surface and locks the player into an animation they cannot break out of. That glitch had drawn complaints from players on both sides of the debate about the item itself, and it disappears along with the hooks.

A split response

Reaction among Warzone players has been divided. Streamer HusKerrs called it "a great decision overall for both casual and competitive" Warzone. Streamer CPreds said grapple hooks interfere with endgame positioning, arguing that players used to have to work their way into an angle and rotate with the zone, where the hooks let them take high ground immediately, and suggested keeping them in limited-time modes.

Others were less pleased. Streamer Speros said the removal makes sense on Resurgence, where the maps are small and fast enough that the hooks distort play, but argued Battle Royale needs them unless the maps are substantially reworked. Another player, GhostOfCaldera, described them as among the most enjoyable items ever added to the mode.

The hooks are not being retired from the game entirely. Dexerto reports that they will remain available in the Black Ops Royale mode after they leave the standard Battle Royale and Resurgence playlists.