Call of Duty: Blacks Ops Cold War will debut a new crossbow in an update scheduled for March 24. Players may have already gotten a taste of the new crossbow, as Activision accidentally released the new weapon a few days ago. The weapon was made available through a bundle that leaked on the store, and many players jumped at the chance to buy the crossbow. Activision eventually removed the bundle and the weapon altogether, but now the R1 Shadowhunter crossbow will officially release.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War players were able to buy or unlock the weapon when the R1 Shadowhunter first leaked on March 18. Since the R1 Shadowhunter could be purchased in a bundle, many players spent real money and were given refunds by Activision, but their newest crossbow was taken away.
Some players were able to unlock the Cold War crossbow by completing a challenge. In order to unlock the weapon, players were tasked with earning three One Shot, One Kill badges using a weapon with no attachments, in 15 different matches.
Although the requirements for unlocking the R1 Shadowhunter are specific, players were able to complete the challenge before Activision removed the weapon. For the players that completed the challenge, the crossbow was lost when Activision reversed the weapon release. However, any camos earned for the R1 Shadowhunter were kept, and players were able to keep 14 out of the 15 required matches for the challenge. The players who originally unlocked the crossbow will now need to only complete one match with three One Shot, One Kill badges using a weapon with no attachments.
Recently, Call of Duty: Warzone has a problem with hackers using unreleased content. Players have been reported using the Sykov Pistol, RAAM LMG, and CX-9 SMG, all which may be tied to Season 7 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. In this case, Activision did not accidentally release any of the weapons, but players have found ways to use hacking to use the weapons in-game. Some players have even been spotted dawning the unreleased Soap skin. Call of Duty pro NICKMERCS has spoken out against bans on players using them.
NICKMERCS has said that Activision should focus on more bad things like players cheating with hall hacks or aimbots. Cheating has been a big problem in Warzone, but some could argue that using unreleased content could be a form of cheating. The early release of the R1 Shadowhunter was a different situation, where players were not wrong for purchasing or unlocking the weapon, and soon the crossbow will officially release and be back in many player's loadouts.
Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.