Call of Duty developers explain why they don’t use weapon names in patch notes

Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific Season Four shook up the meta with the launch of the mid-season update. The H4 Blixen which has been dominating the close-range meta for a long time was hit with a nerf, leading to another submachine gun taking the top spot. However, taking a look through the patch notes isn’t an easy tasks. Figuring out which weapons have been buffed and nerfed can be a challenge, because the developer references them vaguely. Matching up Assault Rifle Hotel and Submachine Gun Alpha with the correct guns can be confusing.

Call of Duty content creator XVI tweeted the developers asking them why they refer to weapons in generic terms rather than using the actual names that the guns are known by. Also, they outline that presenting the information in this way can be confusing and they are trying to get to the bottom of the reason why.

Call of Duty weapon names are under legal restraints

XVI recently shared the responses they received on the Warzone subreddit. The communications manager at Sledgehammer Games, Sam Leichtamer, agreed that it’s confusing for the team too, but there are legal reasons why the team is unable to use their actual names. In addition, the associate director at Treyarch, Matt Scronce reiterated that it’s down to legal reasons.

The confusion with Call of Duty weapon names goes beyond the patch notes. In the Vanguard and Warzone in-game store, it’s not always clear what weapon blueprint you are purchasing. Using terms such as Light Machine Gun Charlie can be confusing, especially if you don’t recognize the weapon just from appearance alone.

For now, it doesn’t seem that the way Call of Duty weapon names are conveyed in patch notes or in the store is going to change any time soon. All we can do is hope that Modern Warfare 2 will have a clearer workaround.