Modern Warfare 3 update breaks ranked play with restricted items, hacked weapons & more

Jacob Hale
ranked play operator outfits on 6 Star map in Modern Warfare 3

The May 8 update in Modern Warfare 3 has caused some serious issues in Ranked Play, completely breaking it for competitive players with some restricted items allowed and even a hacked weapon added in.

The update was a significant one for players as it addressed the reload glitch that made it impossible to reload while using Auto Tactical Sprint, with many players straight up stopping playing the game after the bug was introduced in Season 3 Reloaded.

While that was fixed, it soon became clear that actually, more may have been broken as a result and, frustratingly, it made Ranked Play feel like a completely different experience, ruining the actual gameplay.

In recent days, hackers started using an unreleased shotgun attachment that fires rockets, almost like mini-nukes ready to tear apart anybody that comes close — and cheaters are now using them in ranked, too.

Hacked weapons aside, the update has also accidentally lifted restrictions on certain killstreaks too, and players are now able to use UAVs, which have been restricted in competitive settings in Call of Duty games for just about the entire lifespan of the franchise.

That even means teams being able to stack UAVs to call in Advanced UAVs, which means respawn modes like Hardpoint are essentially unwinnable as opponents can get your exact location just from a 4-killstreak.

Given that this was discovered within just a few hours of the update, developers Sledgehammer Games have not yet addressed the problem or added it to the Modern Warfare 3 Trello board of known issues.

While the reload glitch was addressed and fixed after a week, ranked players will be hoping that a quicker hotfix brings the game back to its normal state, especially as we approach Season 4 and players want to make one final big push towards the next rank up.

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About The Author

Jacob is Dexerto’s UK Editor and Call of Duty esports specialist. With a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing, he previously worked as an Editor at Ginx TV. Jacob was nominated for Journalist of the Year at the 2023 Esports Awards. Contact: jacob.hale@dexerto.com.