It was also cut from the multiplayer of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, referenced in the game files with the name varzoommwr.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2[]
In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, it is also used only once, during "Of Their Own Accord", where it is used to kill Russian forces armed with Javelins. The zoom is controlled like in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and as such it does not have set zoom levels.
Call of Duty: Black Ops[]
Campaign[]
The Variable Zoom can be found on all sniper rifles, the Crossbow, and the G11, with three levels of zoom. Levels of zoom can be chosen by pressing the melee button while scoped in. Also, the level of zoom does not change after zooming out of the scope or switching weapons, only if the player drops the weapon.
Multiplayer[]
The Variable Zoom is available for the G11 and Sniper Rifles, but not the Crossbow, unlike in campaign. Other than that, the scope behaves the same. The low zoom can help the player engage closer targets, while the highest zoom level is more than the default sniper scope, which can help the player engage targets at farther ranges. The Variable Zoom scope does not bounce as much on the initial zoom in as the regular scope, as it is zoomed in less. For this reason it is favored more for quick scoping.
It's also slightly bugged in split-screen play. The second level of zoom goes much farther than it should, which makes the third level zoom a foot further or so.
The Variable Zoom returns in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It was first seen in the Multiplayer World Reveal on a Dragunov as a player's secondary weapon. It was then seen equipped on the AS50 at COD XP, it is known as the "Variable Zoom Scope". The scope has three different zoom levels, a 2.4x zoom, a 4.8x zoom and a 9.6x zoom. It is unlocked exclusively for Sniper Rifles at Weapon Proficiency Level 22.
In the campaign, a variable zoom scope that operates exactly like the variable zoom scopes in Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 appears in the mission Blood Brothers.
Gallery[]
The M14 EBR is the only weapon in Modern Warfare 3 to have a different appearance with variable zoom (the EBR with a sniper scope has a slightly taller rail underneath the scope)
Call of Duty: Black Ops II[]
Multiplayer[]
The Variable Zoom returns in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. It is an attachment for sniper rifles, light machine guns, and the Crossbow. It now has only two levels of magnification unlike the previous ones. The attachment can be combined with the Dual Band Scope to create a hybrid optic. The attachment decreases centerspeed by 10% for LMGs; therefore it is best suited for low recoil LMGs such as the Mk 48, but a poor choice for the QBB LSW which has high recoil and poor long range damage. It can also be stacked with the Ballistics CPU on sniper rifles.
Zombies[]
The Variable Zoom returns in Zombies as an attachment for the Pack-a-Punched variants of the sniper rifles Barrett M82A1, DSR 50 and the SVU-AS. However, it has limited function outside of Origins, where long sightlines exist within the mud tank paths.
"While scoped in, press RS/R3 to adjust between 3 different zoom levels."
— In-game description.
The Variable Zoom, now called Variable Zoom Lens, appears in Call of Duty: Ghosts. Similarly to Modern Warfare 3, the Variable Zoom in Ghosts has three zoom levels, and is only available to sniper rifles.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare[]
The Variable Zoom returns in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare with the name Variable Zoom Scope. It is unlocked by getting 20 Kills with the Lynx, MORS, NA-45 or SVO. It is integrated to the Lynx "Variable" Supply Drop variant. On the Atlas 20mm it is only available in Exo Survival. Unlike in Black Ops II, the Variable Zoom cannot be combined with the Ballistics CPU. The variable zoom has a disadvantage in that the minimap is no longer visible when scoped it.
Gallery[]
Aiming down the variable zoom scope.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare[]
"While scoped in, press RS/R3 to adjust between 3 different zoom levels."
Unlike in Black Ops, equipping the Variable Zoom does not change the in-game scope model on any Modern Warfare 3 sniper rifle.
The Call of Duty Elite image appears to have a very small QR code on it.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II[]
The Variable Zoom scope of a LMG or the Crossbow has an unusable back up iron sight on top.
Adding Variable Zoom to any sniper rifle will add an adjustable knob on the side of the scope. For the SVU-AS however, the adjustable knob is on the top of the scope.
Before Patch 1.04, attaching ACOG and Variable Zoom together on DSR 50 was possible, and one could zoom in with the ACOG, but not zoom out. It was only found in Custom Games, with bots.
If Variable Zoom is equipped on DSR 50, the character will just pull out the gun when picking it up or a game begins.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare[]
With the Variable Zoom equipped, if the player crawls while prone, they will stay scoped in, unlike with the regular scope.