Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War double XP event extended, balance updates on the way

Call Of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War artwork
(Image credit: Activision)

Update: Treyarch have heard the complaints about their double XP event being short, and have extended it by another 24 hours. It'll continue through to 10 am on Tuesday, November 17, Pacific Time. That's 1 pm EST, and 6 pm GMT. Double XP is live now in both multiplayer and zombies mode.

Original story: One of the most common complaints following the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War is that the weapon XP takes absolutely forever to grind. It's all over the Reddit, with lots of people blaming it for the dominance of the MP5 submachine gun in multiplayer matches. (It's also possible that the MP5 is just... overpowered. Keep reading for more on that.) 

Seems like Treyarch has heard the plaintive cries of CoD players. (That's actually just me.) The game's first round of double XP will start today, November 15th, at 10:00AM PT. That's 1:00PM ET or 6:00PM GMT, for reference. (Lucky Brits, I guess. Likely all off work by then.)

"Ready to grind? 24 hours of 2XP in #BlackOpsColdWar begins at 10AM PT!," reads the tweet from the official Treyarch account. It's exciting for those on a full binge with the newest game in their favorite franchise, and no sarcasm here, I fully support you having fun out there. (Please do remember to shower and eat.) However, I would like to politely comment on how dystopian that tweet is. Do y'all remember when grinding in games was considered... bad? But we're celebrating it now? No? Just me? Okay.

Elsewhere on Twitter the game's developers promised that balance updates for weapons and scorestreaks will be "coming in with Season 1, if not sooner." It's also, likely, a comment on the power of Cold War's dominant MP5 submachine gun, with players noting especially often that it's better at long-range combat than Cold War's newly-weakened sniper rifles.  

Contributor

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.

Latest in Call of Duty
A soldier looks out over the Verdansk map, as a single tear rolls down his cheek.
The original Verdansk map is returning to Call of Duty: Warzone, to celebrate which we get a soldier crying to Nat King Cole
black ops 6 season 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 has been delayed, as the devs say they're 'taking the time to deliver a great experience' for what will be a 'big moment' for Call of Duty
A zombie santa with six fingers leaps at the screen.
Call of Duty admits it's using generative AI to 'help develop some in-game assets', and suddenly all those poorly made calling cards make sense
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover costs like $90 and even the die-hards are in shellshock: 'Cash cow-abunga!'
Ghost, from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022), looks bleakly at a fellow passenger in a transport.
For COD’s sake: One player’s 763-day legal quest to make Activision unban their account ends in total success: ‘Worth the effort’
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 will let players battle on boats and bullet-trains, with the Terminator entering the fray 'shortly after launch'
Latest in News
A female Zoi making two hearts with her fingers.
Following 24 hours of Denuvo-based backlash, Inzoi is taking a surprising step and removing it entirely: 'We want to sincerely apologise for not aligning more closely with player expectations'
An image of a Helldiver from Helldivers 2 shooting at a red dragon from Dungeons & Dragons.
'Ok, so dragon builds are a thing now': galaxy-brained Helldivers 2 player incinerates a bile titan with a hover pack and a flamethrower
An ancient, angry stone mech from No Man's Sky's new Relics update
No Man’s Sky lets you unearth ancient, angry mechs in the astro-archaeology filled Relics update
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
Tzarina Katarin Bokha, the Ice Queen of Kislev
Total War: Warhammer 3 rolls out a cool Kislev overhaul, changes befitting Tzeench’s magic, new projectile units and creakier skeletal horses
An image of a golden first place award from Geoguessr
'We're actually getting GeoGuessr on Steam before GTA 6': the Google Street View puzzler arrives on Valve's platform this April