MW4 Hitscan Update Explained: 35m Instant Hits, 288% More Range and What It Means for Your Guns

Quick answer: On November 10–11, 2026 Infinity Ward pushed the true hitscan range of every bullet weapon in Modern Warfare 4 to about 35 meters on average, a 288% increase from launch. Inside that range your shots land instantly, with no travel time. Beyond it, bullets still use MW4's ballistic simulation, but a new long-range technique makes them connect 34 milliseconds faster. The change is global: Multiplayer, Warzone and DMZ. No weapon damage values changed, so on-paper TTK is the same, but close-range fights should feel more responsive and mid-to-long AR fights more consistent.

MW4 launched on October 23, and two and a half weeks later Infinity Ward has admitted that one of its own engine upgrades shortened how far bullets behave as instant hits. It has now shipped the fix. This guide covers exactly what the official notes say, what hitscan means, what is still unknown, and what to re-test on your loadouts this week.

What did the MW4 hitscan update change?

Infinity Ward announced the change in its weekly MW4 video update on November 10 and wrote it into the official MW4 Season 1 patch notes on November 11 "for additional visibility." Raven Software repeated the same entry in the Warzone Season 1 patch notes the same day.

The official numbers:

• True hitscan range: about 35 meters on average across all bullet weapons.
• +288% true hitscan distance compared with launch. The notes also describe it as "a 3.91x hitscan increase at all ranges."
• 34 milliseconds faster for ballistic bullets to connect at longer range, from a new long-range bullet simulation technique.
• Scope: every mode. "This change is global and applies to all modes."

In Infinity Ward's own words:

"This change pushes the true hitscan range of all bullet weapons significantly further than they were at launch, on average to about 35 meters, making short-range gunfights more responsive." — Infinity Ward, MW4 Season 1 patch notes, November 11, 2026

The studio teased it on X the night before: "In tonight's weekly update, we're breaking down Hitscan and Ballistic improvements and sharing the latest on Ranked Play" (@InfinityWard, as quoted by HappyGamer). The Ranked part of that video is covered in our guide to when MW4 Ranked Play comes out.

What is hitscan in MW4, and how is it different from ballistics?

There are two ways a shooter can decide whether your bullet hit:

• Hitscan: the game draws an instant line from your barrel the moment you fire. If it touches an enemy, it is a hit. No travel time, no drop, no leading.
• Ballistic (projectile): the bullet is simulated as an object with velocity and drop. It takes time to arrive, so at range you lead moving targets and aim slightly high.

Modern Warfare uses a hybrid. Each bullet behaves like hitscan up to a short distance, then switches to the ballistic simulation for the rest of its flight. The "true hitscan range" in the patch notes is that switch-over point.

Why did MW4 gunfights feel off at launch?

According to Infinity Ward, it was a side effect of a long-range accuracy upgrade. The studio raised the refresh rate of MW4's ballistic simulation, which governs bullet drop and velocity over distance, "more than what we had ever done before." That made leading targets at long range more reliable, but "as a side effect reduced the initial hitscan range of weapons."

So at launch, bullets left hitscan behaviour earlier than players were used to, and more of a normal close-to-mid-range fight ran on simulated travel time. The patch notes don't give the exact launch figure. If 35 meters is a 288% increase, the launch average works out to roughly 9 meters. That is our arithmetic from the official percentage, not a number Infinity Ward published.

Which modes get the hitscan change: Multiplayer, Warzone, DMZ?

All of them. The MW4 notes say the change "is global and applies to all modes," and Raven Software repeated the same entry in the Warzone notes on November 11, where it reads "applies to Warzone." That covers:

Mode	Hitscan change applies?	Source
MW4 Multiplayer (core 6v6, Ground War, Shransit, Infected)	Yes	MW4 Season 1 patch notes, Nov 11
Call of Duty: Warzone (Hajin, Zodiac, Rebirth Island)	Yes	Warzone Season 1 patch notes, Nov 11
DMZ (including X01 Black Site)	Yes	"Global, applies to all modes"
Firing Range	Separate system, see below	MW4 patch notes, Nov 10

For Warzone players this matters more than in 6v6: most Warzone fights are mid-to-long range, which is where the 34 ms change applies. For what else changed on the big maps, see our Warzone Season 1 Verdansk and Rebirth Island breakdown.

Did the update change damage or TTK?

No. The November 10 and 11 entries contain no weapon damage, range-profile or headshot-multiplier changes. The only damage item is a bug fix: the Astaroth 57 launcher did more damage than intended to Killstreak vehicles. On paper, time-to-kill is the same as after the October 28 weapon tuning update.

What changes is how reliably and how quickly that damage gets delivered:

• Inside about 35 m: hits register instantly. You no longer lose close trades to bullet travel time, and you don't need to lead strafing targets.
• Beyond about 35 m: bullets still travel and drop, but connect 34 ms sooner. At 60 fps that's about two frames.

So even though no numbers moved, the effective time-to-kill in a real fight can drop, because fewer shots land late or miss a moving target.

Which weapons benefit most from the hitscan update?

Infinity Ward named one case: the long-range technique "will make mid- and long-range AR gunfights feel more consistent." Beyond that it hasn't ranked weapons, so treat the list below as our reading of the mechanics, not official tiers:

• SMGs and shotguns: most of their fights already happen inside 35 m, so almost all of them become instant-hit. Expect more consistent close-range trades with guns like the new CSG-35.
• Assault rifles: biggest all-round winners. Hitscan covers the short end, and the 34 ms change helps the mid-to-long end. The Season 1 Cronen Osprey fits this description.
• Marksman rifles and snipers: most shots stay ballistic, so they gain mainly from the 34 ms change. You still lead at long range.
• Muzzle velocity attachments: inside the hitscan range, bullet velocity no longer decides when a hit lands, because the hit is instant. Velocity still matters for shots beyond 35 m. If you built a close-range class around velocity, re-check it.

New to the Season 1 guns? Our Cronen Osprey, CSG-35 and JAK 12 unlock guide has the Battle Pass tiers.

Can you test the hitscan change in the Firing Range?

Not reliably. In the November 10 notes Infinity Ward fixed Firing Range hitmarkers for slow ballistic bullets, then added a warning: "the Firing Range is an offline simulation and is not on a dedicated server, and the target dummy uses a different bullet collision system than players."

In other words, the dummy is not a fair test of how your gun behaves against real players on live servers. To judge a loadout after this update you need real matches:

• Close range: play a few rounds of Shransit (Shipment, Shoot House and Transit 213), where nearly every fight happens inside 35 m.
• Mid to long range: queue Ground War or Warzone and focus on AR fights beyond about 35 m, where the 34 ms change applies.
• Compare like with like: same gun, same attachments, a few matches each. One game tells you nothing.

That is also where bot lobbies help: you get a live dedicated-server match without a sweaty lobby punishing every test. We explain how they work in how to get bot lobbies in MW4.

What else changed in the November 10 and 11 MW4 updates?

The hitscan entry shipped alongside a batch of smaller fixes. The ones that matter for gunfights and progression:

November 10

• Instant ADS sensitivity: now switches back to hip sensitivity earlier when you leave ADS.
• Ghost perk: fixed a bug where Ghost could hide players from enemy detection while firing unsuppressed weapons.
• Enemy nameplates: fixed nameplates showing when an enemy was hidden from view or behind a Care Package.
• Cronen Osprey: fixed an extended animation when switching to it. CSG-35: the VLK Trimmer optic rail is now adjustable.
• Camos: Platinum challenges now track for the Cronen Osprey and CSG-35, and Sniper BlackCell headshots track again.

November 11

• Prestige bug: fixed Prestiging removing some ammunition attachments from owned weapon Blueprints.
• Astaroth 57: no longer does more damage than intended to Killstreak vehicles.
• XP: bigger end-of-match XP bonus for Infected and Ground War.
• DMZ: Bombing Run disabled in X01, faster Bounty scoring for solos and duos.

The full running list, updated with every MW4 patch, lives in our MW4 patch notes tracker.

What is still unconfirmed about the hitscan change?

Be careful with anything beyond the official text. Infinity Ward has not published:

• Per-weapon hitscan ranges. "About 35 meters" is an average across all bullet weapons. Individual guns may sit above or below it.
• The exact launch figure. The roughly 9 m launch number above is our calculation from the 288% figure.
• Whether further tuning is planned. The notes describe the change as done, with no follow-up promised.

Community testers may publish per-weapon numbers. Treat any as player-tested, not official, the same way we treat the MW4 Longshot and Point Blank distances.

How should you change your MW4 grind after the hitscan update?

Three practical moves for this week:

• Re-test your main close-range class before you spend more time on it. Some guns that felt unreliable at launch may now be fine.
• Give ARs another look for Warzone. Infinity Ward named mid-to-long AR fights as the area that improves.
• Level the guns you'll actually use. If the update changes your main weapon, the attachments and camos on the new pick start from scratch. Our fastest MW4 weapon leveling guide covers the quickest XP routes, and MW4 Weapon Leveling is there if you'd rather skip it.

Gunplay changed, so your loadouts might too. Lock in your MW4 setup now: bot lobbies, camo and weapon leveling, handled by pro players.

• MW4 Bot Lobbies: easy lobbies to test new guns, level up and clear camo challenges
• MW4 Weapon Leveling: max any gun and unlock every attachment
• MW4 Mastery Camo Unlock: finish the mastery camo grind on your new main
• MW4 Account Leveling: reach the level cap and unlock every perk and killstreak
• All MW4 services

FAQ

Can I buy this loadout instead of farming it? Yes: this loadout costs $32.61 on Timesaver, and a Timesaver pro completes it by hand within 4 hours. How handover works and what happens if something goes wrong: account safety.

What is the MW4 hitscan range now? About 35 meters on average across all bullet weapons, per Infinity Ward's November 11, 2026 patch notes. Inside that distance, shots register instantly.

How much did MW4 hitscan range increase? Infinity Ward says true hitscan distance is up 288% from launch. The same notes also describe it as a 3.91x hitscan increase.

Does the hitscan update affect Warzone? Yes. The change is global, and Raven Software listed the same entry in the Warzone Season 1 patch notes on November 11. It applies to Multiplayer, Warzone and DMZ.

Did MW4 change TTK with the hitscan update? No weapon damage values changed, so on-paper TTK is the same. Effective TTK can feel faster because close-range hits land instantly and long-range ballistic bullets connect 34 ms sooner.

Why did my shots not register in MW4 at launch? One official reason: a higher-refresh ballistic simulation shortened the initial hitscan range, so more close-to-mid-range shots relied on simulated bullet travel. The November 10–11 update fixes that side effect.

Is the Firing Range accurate for testing the hitscan change? Not fully. Infinity Ward says the Firing Range is an offline simulation and its dummy uses a different bullet collision system than real players, so test in live matches.