Sledgehammer is nerfing Call of Duty: Vanguard's OP sun, looking at audio mixing and more

The Call of Duty: Vanguard beta has officially ended, following a 48-hour extension. As expected, developer Sledgehammer Games posted an update about the problems and issues it's tracking, based on player feedback and reports.

In a blog post, the studio specifically discussed five issues, adding that some have already been fixed in the launch build, while others are being worked on (though without specifying).

The glare of the in-game sun is being nerfed, for instance, as is the dogs killstreak. Sledgehammer is also looking at tuning spawns, particularly in Hotel Royal to get rid of the murder kitchen problem.

Here's everything covered:

• Nerfing the sun.
• Cracking down on Red Star raves.
• Removing dognados.
• Tuning spawns to avoid Hotel Royal’s murder kitchen.
• Closing open mic lobbies in Search & Destroy.

The Vanguard beta hasn't exactly been very popular. Though Activision has yet to release any official figures, the game’s beta wasn't very active on Twitch, and online chatter is nowhere near as dense and varied as it was with Modern Warfare 2019, or last year's Black Ops Cold War.

This is why it's a little surprising that Sledgehammer Games didn't touch on some of the most common issues/concerns players have been having with the game. For instance, the excessive visual effects that accompany firing a weapon, such as smoke and muzzle flash, has been one of the bigger complaints - but it's nowhere to be seen here.

Nevertheless, the blog post mentioned that the team is looking at various other concerns, such as overall visibility, audio mixing (another common problem), and weapon balance.

Call of Duty: Vanguard is out November 5 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Things have seemingly been getting from bad to worse for publisher Activision Blizzard since the State of California sued it over alleged discrimination, bullying and rampant workplace sexism. Even though the company ousted a number of higher-profile executives, including Blizzard president J. Allen Brack and the studio’s HR chief Jesse Meschuk, and brought in new faces such as Disney’s Julie Hodges to be the face of HR, many don’t believe it has done enough to address employee concerns.

The SEC agrees, and has itself kicked off an investigation into Activision Blizzard, and already subpoenaed CEO Bobby Kotick.