CoD Vanguard devs criticized as “tone-deaf” over new Incendiary Grenades

Despite the early promise of CoD Vanguard’s gameplay, a long stream of issues have prevented the new game from living up to its potential. Now, following the release of Season 1, fans have accused Sledgehammer of not taking community complaints on board.

While there’s no doubt that Vanguard launched with a series of frustrating bugs, the core gameplay in the new CoD is just as fun as ever. But as the glitches have been ironed out, a few lingering issues have remained since the start.

Players have long been complaining about the sheer amount of fire and explosions that engulf the map in each game. Mortar killstreaks, in particular, have been singled out for the way they bombarded the map and ruined visibility.

Now, alongside the release of Vanguard Season 1, the new lethal Incendiary Grenades are causing carnage in multiplayer matches. In response to the chaos they are seeing, Vanguard players are accusing Sledgehammer Games of being “tone-deaf.”

The new throwable Incendiary Grenades function similarly to the Firebombing Run killstreak, only they can be deployed in place of your lethal grenade. They engulf a medium-sized area in flames, damaging anyone it comes into contact with.

It comes as part of the Season 1 Battle Pass, unlocked by reaching level 21. Given the number of explosives and fire-based equipment has been a complaint ever since launch, fans feel that the Vanguard devs are not taking the community concerns seriously.

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“It was completely tone-deaf for them to add that new grenade. Wtf are they thinking?” asked one player. “Clearly none of the devs actually play their own game otherwise they’d realize it’s just annoying.”

Others noted that enemy players spamming these new grenades make objective-based modes like Domination and Hardpoint “miserable” to play. Once objectives are captured, players are simply being overloaded with fire and explosions that consume the screen.

Smaller maps, in particular, like shipment and Das Haus seem to be the most affected. As you can see from the clip below, posted by Reddit user Nytrousx, Incendiary Grenades make the game almost unplayable.

Seeing as though the new explosives are part of the Battle Pass and are unlikely to be removed, fans have called for a way of combating them. Some suggested that Trophy System added in Modern Warfare would provide some defense against incoming projectiles.

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Others called for a Perk that helps them withstand fire damage, to give them more chance of escaping areas covered with Thermite and Incendiary Grenades. Another solution was a simple nerf to lethal throwables, in the hopes that enemy players will stop relying on them so much.

Sledgehammer are yet to address the fans’ concerns surrounding the new Incendiary Grenades, but the community will be waiting desperately for a solution to the problem. Until then, many players have claimed they will be jumping ship for the time being.