Call of Duty: Vanguard Update Makes Some Experimental Changes Permanent
Call of Duty: Vanguard got a small update this week that made permanent some changes Sledgehammer Games said it was testing out not long ago. Those changes deal with different spawn points within Vanguard's multiplayer environment and encompass modes including but not limited to the Ranked Play experience. Sledgehammer Games said it came to the decision to implement these changes permanently based on feedback provided by players as well as data gathered from these tests.
The tests in question took place back towards the end of March, so there's a chance those who are just now seeing this update never participated in the experimental playlist themselves. The playlist update containing these changes went live on Tuesday, so if you've been playing Vanguard since then after downloading the update, you should already be benefitting from these changes.
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Experimental Playlist & survey. Between your feedback and the data we analyzed from the game, the spawn adjustments have proven beneficial.
— Sledgehammer Games (@SHGames) April 12, 2022
Today, we have implemented those spawn changes across #Vanguard and they are now live!
Back in the patch notes for the previous update that added the experimental changes, Sledgehammer Games said the goal of the spawn points in Vanguard was naturally to "prevent players from spawning in a position where an enemy player immediately threatens them" but added that the system "frequently fails" when it comes to smaller maps. To that end, the experimental playlist affected the Shipment, Das Haus, and Dome maps and the Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Domination, and Hardpoint modes in the beginning with the goal being a spawn system that felt better and fairer for players.
"In the new Experimental Playlist, we have modified the spawn system to better determine the quality of a given spawn location on the map," Sledgehammer Games said. "With these changes, players should feel that spawns are less random, especially in objective-based modes. In the first iteration of what will be a reoccurring Experimental Playlist, players will experience a moshpit of the following maps and modes."
Vanguard has been getting continued updates from Sledgehammer Games and the other studios working on this latest Call of Duty title over the past couple of months, but as we progress through 2022, more eyes are looking ahead towards the next Call of Duty projects. Those include what's supposed to be a sequel to the newest Modern Warfare game as well as the new iteration of Warzone, though it's up in the air right now what platforms those will be available on.