Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Update Nerfs Popular Zombies XP Exploit

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 players already found that they could use the new game's Zombies mode to expedite the process of unlocking weapons and other gear, but since the game's launch, people have figured out that Modern Warfare Zombies provides a pretty substantial amount of XP, too. That was especially true when exploits were being used, particularly ones that dealt with the exfil stage of Modern Warfare Zombies where players would encounter hordes of zombies to mow down on their way out of a match. Unfortunately for not only those who were exploiting that part of Modern Warfare Zombies but also those who weren't and just enjoyed the horde fights, Modern Warfare 3's latest update has nerfed those XP farms.

The nerfs in question were found under the "Gameplay" and "Stability" sections of the latest MW3 Zombies patch notes, but the one under Stability is the more important one to take note of. We've pulled the relevant sections below to show what's changed in the game's Zombies mode:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies Patch Notes

Gameplay

• Addressed an issue that allowed Players who are eligible for a Story Mission to be automatically queued into one if a different squad completes a Story Mission exfil.
• Addressed an exfil timing issue that allowed Players to fall from the exfil helicopter at the edge of the map when departing from the Sub Pen.
• The cooldown for exfil activations has been increased to two minutes.
• Closed an exploit that permitted duplication of a Player's weapon.
• Closed an exploit that permitted duplication of scorestreaks.

Stability

• Addressed an issue that prevented Players from entering the Modern Warfare Zombies menu due to "Timed out waiting for instance inventory."
• Reduced the number of Zombies that spawn at exfil locations to improve stability.
• Various stability and map fixes.

Zombies Exfil Exploit

The important parts from these patch notes are the two lines under "Gameplay" about duplication exploits and the exfil change under "Stability." The Zombies at the exfil point in Modern Warfare Zombies were meant to be final challenges before players left, a cinematic moment akin to what someone would see in zombies movies when trying to escape. Players largely ended up prolonging these scenarios to farm zombies for XP which isn't anything new in games like this, but it was more problematic because of the exploits mentioned above.

By duplicating Sentry Guns, players basically had an army of automated turrets to mow down zombies and farm XP without any repercussions. On top of that being an exploit itself, it also could potentially have a negative impact on other players in the match by stressing servers with too much activity. So, while XP farming was not mentioned anywhere in the patch notes, it seems the Modern Warfare 3 developers have taken a three-pronged approach to the issue by closing those exploits while also nerfing the amount of exfil Zombies. 

Whether they were indeed farming these zombies for XP (without the exploit) or were just playing Modern Warfare Zombies like normal, players aren't too happy with the change.

"I hate it because I loved the massive horde," one player said in response to this change. "Why not keep the horde the same but remove XP if someone kills too many too quickly? This sucks. I rather have 5min cool downs on Exfils."

"I was enjoying clearing hoards of Zombies at exfil," reads another response. "Much better than running/driving simulator and reminiscent of past Zombie modes. Now you can't get giant mobs to farm."

With these exploits now patched up, players will undoubtedly find new exploits soon enough, though it remains to be seen if the devs will give players back some of their exfil zombies in the future.