Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Multiplayer has been out in the world for a couple weeks, and we are thrilled to see that it has come with a great sentiment from the Call of Duty community, who have responded particularly well to the more fluid movement system and the modernized return of the 16 fan-favorite maps from Modern Warfare 2 (2009).

Back on October 5, at the Call of Duty: Next broadcast, Sledgehammer Games developers took the stage to share all the innovations and details about what players could expect from Multiplayer at launch.

Shortly after, the Beta kicked off and allowed players to get hands on experience with MP, which provided the opportunity for them to give feedback on the mode before its official launch on November 10. Fast forward to now, and Xbox players around the globe have been jumping into Modern Warfare III to experience this fan-favorite mode for themselves.

First and foremost, the great reaction to Modern Warfare III MP has been something Sledgehammer Games has been proud to see. As Zach Hodson, Design Director at the Studio puts it, “We’re incredibly inspired from the reactions so far. The positivity makes the effort worth it, and we use the negatives as motivation to get solid fixes and improvements out as fast as we can. Keep the feedback coming!”

On the feedback front, between Beta and launch, the studio has taken several key learnings to make some of the adjustments and improvements that you’ve already seen at launch. So far, spawns have been one of the most notable adjustments. From Zach Hodson: “Spawns were a big one. We heard from players that the spawns lacked directionality and it was making it impossible to know which direction the fights would be coming from. In between Beta and Launch our QA, Analysts, Designers, and Engineers worked together on all aspects of spawns to improve on the issues players were seeing. We think the work really paid off, but there are still more improvements coming.”

From an art direction standpoint, the Beta confirmed a lot of the hopes from the Sledgehammer team with the direction they had taken in modernizing these classic maps. From Matt Abbott, Art Director at the studio: “The Beta gave us so much data to trust our instincts and deliver to the players what we wanted to see as fans of Call of Duty.  We have to walk a fine line of balancing realism, grittiness, and natural palettes.  The perception of saturated colors can be polarizing because it potentially deprives a level of grittiness that has come to define Modern Warfare.  In the Beta, it became clear that we didn’t need to dial back our instincts and we could let the natural, physically based materials shine in their full glory while maintaining the realism the franchise is known for.”

There were a few adjustments made, though: “After the Beta, we made a subtle shift that pushed saturation and contrast to take full advantage of Xbox Series X, HDR, and modern monitors/TVs.  Because of the data from the Beta, we were able to make adjustments that made maps not only look better but play better as well.  The idea that people are stopping to smell the roses and look at all the care, tuning, and polishing that goes into the visuals of a Call of Duty game is something that warms a developer’s heart.” 

Other fan favorite updates that have come with Modern Warfare III Multiplayer include slide and reload canceling, updates to recoil, and new ways to set your loadout. While loadouts can be entirely subjective, Hodson recommends “playing around with the collapsed-stockless MCW with Stalker Boots and seeing how aggressively you can build it, while still keeping its accuracy.” Beyond that, there are many opportunities to create the loadout that works best for your playstyle, so if you haven’t yet, be sure to jump in and try it out for yourself.

Overall, Modern Warfare III Multiplayer has delivered an intense, fluid, and fun player experience. We look forward to seeing how the game continues to evolve based on community feedback. We can’t wait to see you in the lobbies!