Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War players were surprised to discover early access to the game’s midseason weapons, unlocking and using the new gear in-game. Unfortunately, the items have since been removed, leaving players who enjoyed them stuck waiting until they are officially added later in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 1.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s midseason weapons were leaked early, revealing that fans would eventually get their hands on the Streetsweeper shotgun as well as the Wakizashi Sword and Sledgehammer melee weapons. While players could previously only view the weapon challenges in the loadout menu, the official release of Season 1 saw this change. Over the past several days, players have been unlocking the midseason weapons early through completion of their individual challenges — something that Treyarch has finally stopped.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War players that put the time into unlocking the Sledgehammer, Streetsweeper, or Wakizashi Sword have found that the weapons are being completely removed from their loadout options. As shared by Call of Duty YouTuber PrestigeIsKey, players are logging on to the game to find the weapons completely removed from their inventory. Unsurprisingly, the community already seems to be split on the action taken by Treyarch.
On one hand, it is understandable that Treyarch would stop the unlocks from happening, as the weapons are not meant to be usable until later in the season. The Streetsweeper shotgun in particular was extremely devastating, with Treyarch likely still tuning the weapon’s damage output and not yet ready to see the weapon added to the game. While the renamed Striker would have fit perfectly in the Call of Duty throwback weekend held by series veterans, the overpowered shotgun clearly does not fit in the current meta of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
At the same time, it is easy to see why fans are upset to see the weapons removed. With lengthy challenges that require tough tasks to be completed, like the Wakizashi Sword’s challenge having players perform 2 finishing moves in 10 different matches, players put a lot of effort into unlocking the weapons early. While they technically were not supposed to unlock the weapons early, Treyarch was not supposed to make them unlockable in the first place, making the removal of the legitimately earned guns highly controversial.
It remains to be seen if Treyarch will force players to unlock the weapons again when they are re-added in the midseason update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. For now, disappointed players can cope via some Double Battle Pass XP in the new Call of Duty title, killing the time until the midseason weapons are brought to the game permanently.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.