Modern Warfare 2 set a new Call of Duty franchise opening weekend record late last month, in spite of a lukewarm critical reception. Many reviewers took issue with the game’s apparent lack of features, particularly when it comes to single-player content. But even though Infinity Ward’s growing online focus culminated in what some see as an underwhelming Call of Duty campaign, Modern Warfare 2 also attracted criticism for some major day-one multiplayer omissions such as Hardcore mode, a way for players to check their stats, and many staple Gunsmith functionalities.
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While some of these missing online features are part of the game’s update roadmap, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer is currently suffering from a number of bugs that hurt its competitive credibility. One such issue was recently reported by Reddit user ButterBeforeSunset, who shared a video where they died twice to the same thermite grenade during a Modern Warfare 2 match. In response to the video, another user with the moniker exactorit posted their own killcam clip depicting the exact same buggy behavior. Both players seem to have experienced the problem on Xbox consoles, though the nature of the bug doesn’t imply the issue is necessarily exclusive to a particular set of hardware.
When it comes to polishing a competitive multiplayer shooter, a developer can only test for so many edge-case behaviors before actually releasing its game and receiving player feedback. In terms of debugging helpfulness, a full-fledged release dwarfs even the most successful beta in Call of Duty history, which Infinity Ward had back in September. This is especially true when it comes to a game like Modern Warfare 2 that’s basically guaranteed to have millions of players—and, by extension, (paying) testers—from day one.
Despite its notable issues, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is comfortably on its way to surpass $1 billion in sales by the end of the month. The strength of the Call of Duty brand and Activision’s aggressive marketing campaign encompassing everything from conventional ads and streamer sponsorships to Modern Warfare 2-themed Burger King restaurants have once again managed to attract well over 10 million players within a month of the new game’s release. Time will tell where the Call of Duty franchise goes from here, but in the meantime, Infinity Ward has some debugging to do.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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