Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War patch finally adds sniper flinch

Treyarch has pushed out a big patch to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War that finally adds sniper flinch.

The changes arrived today in the big mid-season update on all platforms. The feature has been missing from Black Ops Cold War since launch (it was present in past Call of Duty games), because the developer thought it would help balance snipers in the multiplayer shooter.

Many players, however, felt the removal of flinch made snipers rifles overpowered – a sniper could take a couple of hits and still land a one-shot kill on an attacker thanks to Black Ops Cold War's longer TTK. Flinch is supposed to reduce those instances by applying heavy sway to a sniper's aim as they get shot.

As per patch notes the developer published for the update, it was confirmed that there are two reasons for the change:

"To create more meaningful gameplay between sniper rifles and other weapon classes," Treyarch explained. "To better define the role of each sniper rifle to give them more individuality and specialisation."

"Custom Flinch" has been added to the game, which means that a hit from enemy gunfire will move the player's aim based on calculations unique to that weapon – attachments will be factored into how this flinch is worked out, too. It'll be more intense if you're hit in ADS.

The result? "Heavier sniper rifles will now feel weightier and re-acquire ADS slower accordingly. Please note that ADS momentum is not used when entering ADS from the full hip-fire position."

Here's hoping this rethink to the Sniper class makes them fit a bit more readily into the Black Ops Cold War meta as a whole.

If you're keen for more Black Ops Cold War content, you'll be pleased to know that the same update adds the 80s-inspired Rambo skin and Nakatomi Plaza building to Warzone. We also know that the Orda has arrived in Black Ops Cold War Zombies Outbreak.