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Infinity Ward Gut Punches PC Gamers Again
While console gamers lick their lips in anticipation of the Modern Warfare 2 launch next Tuesday, things keep getting worse for PC gamers. As if the news of Infinity Ward abandoning dedicated servers wasn't bad enough, during an online chat the developer revealed that the neutered Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer only supports 18-player online matches and also lacks several features to which PC gamers have become accustomed.
When asked how many players its new hosting system can support, Infinity Ward employee Mackey McCandlish responded, "The max number of players on all platforms are 1v1 through 9v9. This is the number of players we focused on when we were balancing map size, perks, classes, challenges, etc." This may be fine for individual players, but clans will surely be perturbed by this new development.
Players also can't choose who hosts the match or kick unruly or cheating players from ranked matches. Even worse, if a host leaves mid-match the game undergoes a five-second delay while the service selects a new host. These new hosting rules raise the specter of hosts having an unfair advantage due to latency, to which McCandlish responded "We put a lot of work into making the game tolerant of latency. In my personal experience, it is not obvious which player is host. The game plays well on broadband."
That wasn't the only blow to PC gamers revealed during the chat. When asked if the PC version featured an in-game console that allows gamers to tweak the field of view, weapon damage rates, and remove perks as in past games, studio head Vince Zampella responded in the negative, stating "We would like you to play the game the way we designed and balanced it."
Regardless of the frustrating new developments, the question most frequently posed was in relation to Infinity Ward restoring dedicated servers as an option in a patch. McCandlish seemed to soften Infinity Ward's stance from previous discussions on the topic, stating, "Our goal is to provide the best experience for our users, so nothing is ever 'off the table'. We are always evaluating our options."
Console gamers live with many of these rules already and don't know any different, but PC gamers aren't used to these types of shackles. So what do you think PC gamers? Is this the final straw or will you still be gearing up for Modern Warfare 2 on Tuesday?
[UPDATE: Activision has confirmed that there is no difference in player count between the different versions of Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer. Each supports 18-player matches.]
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