How To Unlock Warzone's New SMG: The CX-9

Unlock CX9
This puppy has been teased for months, but it's finally available in Warzone | © Activision Blizzard

In the midst of Activision Blizzard's lawsuit, they've chosen now to release a new SMG and a long-awaited cosmetic bundle. Some are assuming this is a desperate attempt at goodwill. Either way, we now have the CX-9 / Serac available in-game, and here's how to unlock it.

The CX-9 will look familiar to some of you, and that's because it's been teased (and in the game files) since Season 1 one of this year. But it is now, alongside a new cosmetic bundle that contains the beloved character Soap, available to start unlocking and using.

It looks like it should be a fairly middling SMG, and so in a Warzone context, that means it'll sadly only ever be taken as a luxury secondary for CQC. Without serious capability over range, it'll never stand on its own two feet as a sniper support. Perhaps a strong choice for Rebirth, we'll see.

Unlocking The CX-9 From The Soap Operator Bundle

The CX-9 can simply be bought, in the form of the Serac blueprint, which is available as part of the Soap Operator Bundle. The Serac blueprint has a great array of attachments - almost perfectly meta - and it comes with Ice tracer rounds. Plus, you're getting the fan-favorite character Soap with this bundle, so it'll prove a popular route for a lot of players. That said, the bundle costs 2400 CP (approx $20) so if you're only buying it for the CX-9 then keep reading to learn how to unlock it for free instead.

Here's the Soap Operator Bundle:

Soap Operator Bundle
You've got to love the throwbacks to Soap's opening appearance in MW2 on the mountainside - textbook stuff | © Activision Blizzard

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Unlocking The CX-9 From In-Game Challenges

You don't need to buy the CX-9 luckily, there are challenges in-game that allow you to unlock the weapon for free. The challenges aren't too difficult, but they'll take a little grinding. If you own Modern Warfare 2019 we advise you to use the multiplayer of that game to complete the challenge, you'll have an easier time of it.

Note: A bug was initially preventing these challenges from being properly tracked, preventing players from unlocking the CX-9. Luckily, this has now been fixed with a quick patch from Raven Software:

Modern Warfare CX-9 Challenge

For Modern Warfare you need to complete the following challenge:

Get two longshot kills using an SMG in five different matches

For this, we advise playing Ground War with an MP5 spec'd for long-distance fire (the monolithic suppressor, a decent foregrip, VLK 3x, etc.). Mount as much as possible, and you should be able to achieve this challenge quickly enough.

Warzone CX-9 Challenge

For Modern Warfare, you need to complete the following challenge:

Get two longshot kills using an SMG in five different matches

For Warzone players without access to Modern Warfare, we advise the Payload game mode that is still active at the time of writing (August 4). If this is not active however, then Plunder is your best bet. A Milano can be used for this challenge in Warzone, and that thing is slapping right now, especially at range, so this is the way.

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Jon Ramuz

Jon has a BA and an MA in English Literature, and as Content Lead for EarlyGame has written over 1,500 articles. He focuses on shooters, but also writes about entertainment and gaming in general....