Infinity Ward Details Call of Duty Modern Warfare II Multiplayer Changes Implemented Since the Beta

Developer Infinity Ward has detailed some of the main changes that have been implemented in Call of Duty Modern Warfare II multiplayer since the game’s beta.

Following the game’s beta on all platforms last month, Infinity Ward already addressed initial player feedback, and the developer has now provided an update on what changes have been made to the game’s multiplayer mode, which includes changes to enemy visibility, audio, aiming in third-person, the user interface, weapons, and more.

“We have been blown away by your response to Modern Warfare II’s Campaign Early Access that began last week”, the studio writes on the official Modern Warfare II blog. “It has been amazing to see the reception from the community and passion for our story.”

“Firstly, we cannot say thank you enough to the fans that took the time to play our game– we had a record-breaking number of players in our Beta, playing more matches than ever before.”

Down below you’ll find some of the main changes that have been made to multiplayer:

Enemy Visibility

• We have added diamond icons above the heads of enemies. This should make it easier for players to clearly identify opponents in the game.
• Additionally, we’ve continued to tweak lighting and contrast for improved enemy visibility.

Audio

• We’ve shortened the overall range of footstep audio which will allow enemy players to get closer to targets before they are able to detect footsteps. We have also continued to tweak teammate footstep audio, which will now be quieter following feedback from the Beta.
• The in-world activation sound effect volume range for the Dead Silence field upgrade has been drastically decreased.

Third Person

• Following feedback from Beta, aiming down sights will now stay in third person POV for low-zoom optics. Only high-zoom optics (beginning with the ACOG and higher) and special optics such as Hybrids and Thermals will revert to first person POV. We believe this will enhance the third person experience while keeping the gameplay balanced. The feedback on this mode has been very positive, and we will continue to explore its use as a modifier.

Weapons

• We have continued to tweak weapons across the game following both feedback from Beta players and game data. Players can expect more specifics on weapon tuning as we continue to support post-launch.

UI

• We have been working hard on numerous updates to our UI that make accessing and customizing your loadout more seamless. We’ve made improvements to navigation of menus and will continue to optimize our UX.

Movement

• Slide, ledge hang, and dive have been further refined. We’ve also addressed some movement exploits following Beta.

Matchmaking

• We have implemented some changes that aim to reduce lobby disbandment between matches. We look forward to testing this at a large scale and getting feedback.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II launches this week on PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4.