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CoD BO6 Season 3 early patch notes: Console-only crossplay and more changes confirmed

Verdansk you very much.

Activision

• Alex Raisbeck

Published: Thursday, 3 April 2025 at 12:25 pm

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The start of any new season in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 brings with it a sea of patch notes, and that’s no different for Season 3.

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This update has everything from new maps and returning weapons to balance changes.

So if you're wondering what's changed in the latest update to Black Ops 6, we've got you covered.

Console-only crossplay confirmed for CoD BO6 Season 3

In a bid to crack down on cheating, Activision has added the ability to limit crossplay matchmaking to consoles only.

Activision has confirmed via its anti-cheat tool Ricochet, that the vast majority of cheaters are PC players, something that has impacted console players thanks to crossplay.

Their solution to this is that Multiplayer Ranked Play, Warzone Ranked Play and Multiplayer Unranked will now have three separate crossplay options:

• On: Enables matchmaking with all gaming platforms when playing in the selected playlists.
• On (Consoles Only): Enables matchmaking only with other consoles when playing in selected playlists
• Off: Restricts matchmaking to your current gaming platform only in selected playlists.

They do make clear, however, that using more restrictive crossplay settings may have an impact on matchmaking queue times.

What other changes are in the CoD BO6 Season 3 early patch notes?

Leading the pack, we've got three new maps making their way into the game.

Firing Range (6v6), Barrage (6v6) and Nomad (6v6, 2v2) are all joining the map pool, with fan-favourite Firing Range being a popular returning pick.

Alongside these maps, we've got a couple of new multiplayer modes: Sharpshooter and Demolition.

Sharpshooter is a mode where everyone gets the same loadout which changes every 45 seconds, and focuses on securing kill streaks.

Demolition on the other hand is basically a tactical shooter à la Counter-Strike and Valorant – one team defends bomb sites while the other tries to destroy them.

There are also a few new weapons joining the game, with a focus on long-range guns to combat the SMG meta.

The new weapons include:

• Kilo 141 Assault Rifle (Warzone Login Reward)
• CR-56 Assault Rifle (Battle Pass)
• HDR Sniper Rifle (Battle Pass)
• Kali Sticks Melee (Event Reward)
• Nail Gun Special Weapon (In-Season)

With new guns, comes some new attachments too:

• Monolithic Suppressor (Battle Pass)
• SWAT 5.56 Grau Conversion (Battle Pass)
• C9 10mm Auto 30-Round Mags (In-Season)

We also have four new Operators joining the fight:

• R0-Z3 (BlackCell, Crimson One, Launch)
• Hudson (Battle Pass, Rogue Black Ops, Launch)
• Mace (Battle Pass, Crimson One, Launch)
• John Black Ops (Event Reward for Black Ops 6 owners, In-Season)

Lastly, there's one new perk joining multiplayer – Close Shave – which lets you use your Dedicated Melee whenever you perform a weapon butt attack.

There's also a ton of new content coming for Zombies, with the highlight being the new Shattered Veil map, info about which you can find in our dedicated guide.

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Full list of CoD BO6 Season 3 early patch notes

Here is the full list of patch notes and balance changes for CoD BO6 Season 3:

UI/UX

Pre-Loading Shaders Improvements

• Improved menu framerate stability while compiling shaders.
• The Pre-Loading Shaders warning has been split per game mode.
• Significantly reduced the time required to compile shaders before launching a match.
• A new menu widget was added in the lobby to indicate the progress of Pre-Loading Shaders to let you know when you are ready to play!

PC Benchmark

• ICYMI: The PC Benchmark remains a useful tool to optimize your gaming experience. Located in the Graphics Settings menu of Black Ops 6 Multiplayer, it simulates a multiplayer match to help you fine-tune your graphics for optimal performance and higher framerates.

Global

• Entering Prestige will no longer reset Operator, Calling Card, Emote, Spray, or Gobblegum customization.
• Addressed an issue where Finishing Move audio would continue to play after scrolling to a new tier in the Battle Pass.

Challenges

BlackCell

• BlackCell Daily Challenge

  • BlackCell owners can now complete an additional Daily Challenge in Multiplayer, Zombies, and Call of Duty: Warzone for an added 7,500 XP each. The BlackCell Daily Challenge counts toward the 3 challenges needed to earn the Daily Challenge Bonus XP.

Weapons (Multiplayer and Zombies)

"A major focus of our weapon balance changes in Season 3 is to enable more gameplay variety. Almost every attachment that modifies the core behavior of a weapon is receiving an improvement to help with its viability in the meta. It is our goal to ensure that all existing and future weapon mods feel fun and powerful to use.

"Semi-auto weapons are another broad target for buffs this patch. The changes aim to make these weapons more accessible and competitive, as well as create more distinct gameplay feel between the faster semi-auto primaries.

"As a last top-level note, the Season 3 patch includes adjustments to the Jackal PDW. More details on the thinking behind the change can be found below. Our weapon balance philosophy is to be conservative with nerfs, and to always consider whether there is an opportunity to elevate other weapons instead. In this case, we feel strongly that tuning down the Jackal PDW will be good for the health of the weapon meta going forward."

Shotguns

"All three shotguns have improvements to their alternate ammo types: Dragon’s Breath and Slug Rounds. Dragon’s Breath now has a slightly higher damage over time, as well as longer range. Pellet damage is also being improved at various ranges. The goal is to make Dragon’s Breath a longer range alternative that still retains a classic shotgun feel.

"Slug Rounds are getting significant buffs, with the goal of giving each shotgun a unique alternate playstyle. The Marine SP Slugs have a massive range improvement, which paired with better headshot damage turn it into a high risk, high reward precision weapon. The ASG-89 Slugs have much higher damage, converting it into a mid-range semi-auto slugger. Finally, the Maelstrom Slugs have higher damage and ranges that make it akin to a slow-fire rifle."

Marksman Rifles

"As noted in the general section, semi-auto Marksman Rifles are getting buffs to help them contend with the other weapon classes. Rate of Fire is the main tool here, as that improves TTK and makes missed shots more forgiving."

Movement Updates

• Increased crouch to stand speeds by 15%.
• Increased crouch to stand speeds while ADS by 39%.
• Increased directional sprint animation blend speeds for improved fluidity.

Modes

• Sharpshooter

  • Classic Black Ops free-for-all Party Game where every Operator is assigned the same Loadout, which changes every 45 seconds.

  • Each cycle introduces a new Primary and Secondary Weapon, plus a new Dedicated Melee weapon and Tactical and Lethal Equipment.

  • Eliminate enemies while unlocking bonus abilities for going on a streak:

    • 1st Elimination: Increased movement speed.
    • 2nd Elimination: Increased reload speed.
    • 3rd Elimination: Increased sprint recovery speed.
    • 4th Elimination: Increased ADS speed.
    • 5th Elimination: Earn double score for eliminating enemies.

  • Keep the streak going to unlock double score.

  • NOTE: Sharpshooter will be added to the new Party Games menu later in the season after it leaves the Featured Playlist selection.

• Demolition (Launch Window)

  • Alternate between attacking and defending two bomb sites. The attacking team must destroy both bomb sites to win the round, gaining a time bonus after detonating the first site.
  • All attacking Operators spawn with a bomb and respawns are active for both teams throughout the match. The match timer pauses whenever a bomb site is in active countdown.
  • The first team to win two rounds wins the match. If the score reaches 1-1, players enter a tie-breaking final round where both teams race to detonate a single neutral bomb site.

General Playlist Updates

• Season 03 Moshpit

  • Play respawn modes on the newest Season 03 maps: Barrage, Nomad, and Firing Range.

• Firing Range 24/7

  • Moshpit of respawn modes on Firing Range.

• Party Games

  • Added Party Games option in Featured Playlists with options to play Infected, Gun Game, Prop Hunt, or Gunfight.
  • Any additional Party Games will be added to this menu in the future.

• Gunfight

  • Moved to the Party Games menu going forward.

Spawns

• Addressed an issue where players could spawn at active Shock Charge placements.

Perks

• Close Shave (Launch Window)

  • Automatically use your Dedicated Melee attack when you perform a weapon butt attack. Simply tap the Melee button to attack. Like the old days!

• Dispatcher

  • Increased the score bonus for Interceptors from 100 to 125.

Scorestreaks

• Death Machine (Launch Window)

  • Heavy minigun with a fast fire rate, high penetration, and a large ammunition capacity.

• Interceptors

  • Reduced score cost from 1150 to 1025.

• War Machine

  • Reduced score cost from 1300 to 1150.

Movement Updates

• Reduced slide in max speed scale from from 1.6 to 1.55.
• Reduced slide max time from .7 to .65.

Ranked Play

Ranked Play continues in Season 03 with new rewards to claim and new Competitive Integrity systems to keep Ranked Play fair for all competitors.

New Ranked Play Systems

• Retroactive SR Adjustments

  • To help reverse the impact cheaters have on the Ranked Play SR system, retroactive SR adjustments will be made starting in Season 03.

    • When a Ranked Play cheater is banned, anyone they've recently beaten will receive a SR refund for those matches.
    • Players who we detect playing with cheaters may have SR for those wins taken away.

  • Rejoin Matches in Progress

    • Starting with Season 03, players will be able to rejoin Ranked matches if they disconnect.
    • Players will have five minutes to rejoin the match in progress and avoid quit penalties and suspensions. Teammates will receive a reduced SR Loss if a matchmade teammate rejoins and they lose the match.

Season 03 Rank Setback

• Competitors who are continuing their conquest in Ranked Play from Season 02 will notice that their accounts may have been set back as outlined in previous notes.

  • Every new Season, your Rank may be rolled back based on where you ended the previous season, as follows:

    • Bronze or Silver Rank players are not impacted by the Seasonal setback and will be able to pick up where they ended Season 02 with no SR deduction.
    • Gold or Platinum Rank players will start Season 03 in Tier I of Gold or Platinum respectively.
    • Diamond Rank and above players will start the Season 03 at Diamond I.

Demotion Protection

• Demotion Protection will be active for everyone’s first 3 Ranked Play losses in Season 03, and players can expect 1 free loss per day via Daily Loss Forgiveness like in Season 02.

Updated Ranked Play Unlock Requirements

• Competitors that are returning after an extended period of inactivity may need to Win 10 Matches to requalify for Ranked Play in Season 03.
• New Ranked Play competitors will need to win 50 match-made multiplayer matches like previous seasons.

Ranked Play Season 03 Rewards

• Ranked Play Season 03 Rewards

  • Rank Weapon Blueprints: Jackal PDW SMG

    • Each Rank Gold and above has a unique Rank-themed Weapon Blueprint that you can earn to show off your rank.

      • Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crimson & Iridescent: Start in (or above) or reach the applicable Rank anytime in Season 03 to instantly earn the corresponding Jackal PDW Blueprint.
      • Top 250: Finish Season 03 in the Top 250 to earn the “Top 250 Issue Jackal PDW” Blueprint.

    • Rank Calling Cards

      • Each Rank Silver and above has a unique Calling Card reward:

        • Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crimson, Iridescent: Start in (or above) or reach the applicable Rank anytime in Season 03 to instantly earn the corresponding Season 03 Rank Calling Card..
        • Top 250: Finish Season 03 in the Top 250.
        • Top 250 Champion: One-of-a-kind Calling Card awarded to the single player who finishes Season 03 in the #1 position on the Top 250.

      • Pro Issue AMES 85 Weapon Blueprint: Unlocked by winning 10 Ranked Play matches in Season 03.

      • 100 Season 03 Wins Large Decal: Unlocked by winning 100 Ranked Play matches in Season 03.

Challenges

• “Hard and Fast” Prestige Master Challenge: the description now mentions the Fast Hands Perk, which also needs to be equipped to progress the Challenge.

UI

• Updated the Quartermaster, Hunter's Instinct, and Slipstream Perk descriptions to be clearer.
• Addressed an issue where the Scoreboard would be blank when opening it at the end of a round or match.
• Addressed an issue where Forward Intel Perk would produce inconsistent minimap zoom functionality.
• Added a timer to the Winner's Circle that counts down the delay before Emotes can be performed. An Emote triggered during the countdown will automatically play as soon as the timer ends.
• Addressed a Private Match issue where Game Setup was unresponsive after queuing for Gun Game.
• Addressed an issue where the winning map would be displayed as vetoed after the Veto Vote concludes in Ranked Play.
• Updated the SR Protection string in the Ranked Play lobby to be more descriptive.

Stability

• Addressed various stability issues.

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Authors

Alex RaisbeckGaming writer

Alex Raisbeck is a Gaming Writer at Radio Times, covering everything from AAA giants to indie gems. Alex has written for VideoGamer, GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, PCGamesN and more.

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