Black Ops 6 Developers Aim for Burst-Fire Rifle to Become a Meta Weapon

Ex-professional Call of Duty player Crimsix has identified potential in the SWAT 5.56 marksman rifle, which has also been acknowledged by the developers of Black Ops 6.

At the highest level, FPS players have the ability to excel with any weapon, and this is particularly evident with Crimsix, who holds the record for the most major CoD tournament victories. However, there is ongoing debate among players about whether the SWAT 5.56 is overpowered or requires adjustments.

Crimsix expertly showcased the immense power of the three-round-burst marksman rifle by taking down enemies with just one shot in an impressive highlight reel.

Matt Scronce, the associate director at Treyarch, responded by saying, “I have challenged the team to incorporate burst fire into the competitive meta once again. How close are we to achieving this goal?”

I challenged the team to get a burst fire back into the comp meta. How far off are we?

— Matt Scronce (@MaTtKs) September 1, 2024

Crimsix was asked about his thoughts on the weapon’s performance in the beta and he replied, stating that it was a challenging question to answer. He noted that the gun felt slow in terms of movement, aiming down sights, and firing while sprinting, but at the same time, it was capable of quickly and easily taking down opponents with just one burst. However, he acknowledged that it was still tricky to land a one burst shot on enemies who were positioned on elevated spots and at a distance. Therefore, his only suggestion would be to find a way to improve the gun’s accuracy in such situations.

According to Crimsix, the reason why professional players typically favor fully-automatic weapons is due to the inconsistency of the weapon in question.

In 2015, the M8A7 was the last burst weapon regularly used by professional players during the Black Ops 3 season. Fans in the comment section are uncertain if the SWAT 5.56 will end this trend.

“One player responded by expressing their disappointment at the lack of usage of a marksman rifle that can one-shot burst more often than not among professional players.”

One notable distinction that was mentioned was that the M8A7 is a four-round burst firearm, whereas the SWAT 5.56 only has a three-round burst capability.

“They argued that for a weapon to be classified as a comp AR, it must have a 4-shot burst instead of a 3-burst, and it can only achieve a 1-burst kill if all 4 shots in the burst are successfully hit.”

A third person expressed their belief that a burst weapon with a higher fire rate but lower damage per burst would have a better chance.