Flashbang grenades are meant to disorient your foes. Instead, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 players have discovered that using them to blind your teammates will net you 15 XP. It’s a farming trick that promotes bad cooperation.
YouTube streamer Expel posted a video of the XP exploit on X, adding that throwing flashbang grenades at allies “gives you XP” and “do with this information what you will.” The UI text on screen states, “Flashed Enemy,” so it seems likely this is an unintended benefit for being a terrible teammate.
Grinding for progression and prestige is a core tenet of Black Ops 6, on top of the rewards and unlockables in multiplayer. As such, there will always be players looking for easy ways to level up. For instance, the original Destiny famously had a loot cave for farming a decade ago, when people mindlessly shot at a cavern for hours on end. That exploit was addressed but ended up leading to an in-game dungeon acknowledging the loot cave.
Black Ops 6 launched a week ago and saw a record-setting debut. The new entry in the FPS franchise had the “biggest” three-day opening weekend for Call of Duty in regard to total players, hours played, and total matches. The debut of Black Ops 6 also led to a “bonkers” day of engagement for Call of Duty HQ–the app housing the game along with Warzone and Modern Warfare 3. Over half of all Xbox Series X|S owners checked out Call of Duty HQ on October 28, while over a third of all PS5 owners did the same.
Today, the iconic Nuketown multiplayer map arrives in Black Ops 6. This is the original arena from Black Ops set in the 1950s, instead of a new variation. Looking ahead, Black Ops 6 Season 1 has been confirmed to begin November 14.
For more, check out GameSpot’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 multiplayer review.