Season 4 is live for Call of Duty, and as with every major season launch, Activision has published a full patch notes breakdown covering weapon balance, anti-cheat, and the structural changes rolling out with the new content. For PC players, the anti-cheat updates are the part worth reading carefully.
The SG-12 shotgun is taking a hit this patch. The weapon has been a dominant pick at close range, and the nerf appears to address its consistency and range profile. Specific numbers from the full patch notes include adjustments to damage falloff and pellet spread — the exact flavor of changes shotgun mains have learned to dread every time a new season drops. Whether the SG-12 lands in balanced or unplayable territory is the usual post-patch guessing game that plays out over the first week of the season.
The Ricochet anti-cheat update is the more consequential item for the PC player base. Ricochet has had a mixed reception since its introduction: it’s caught cheaters, but it’s also generated false positives, compatibility issues, and the persistent trust deficit that comes with any kernel-level anti-cheat system. The Season 4 notes describe continued updates to detection methods and mitigation tools. Whether this materially improves the on-the-ground experience or represents incremental improvement will take the community a few weeks to assess. Anyone who’s spent time in CoD lobbies over the last year knows the cheating situation has been better and worse at different points; the trend line matters more than any single patch.
Weapon balance changes across the broader arsenal are also included in the notes alongside the standard seasonal content additions: new maps, modes, operators, and the associated battle pass tier grind. The seasonal content itself is outside the scope of a hardware-focused site, but the balance changes and anti-cheat work directly affect the PC experience and are worth tracking.
Full patch notes are available on the official Call of Duty blog.