Modern Warfare 2 loses dedicated servers & mod support

It's becoming trendy these days to delay the PC version of major upcoming multiplatform titles, but Infinity Ward pleansantly bucks this by confirming that Modern Warfare 2 will suffer nothing of the sort. That said, the developer still had some surprises in store for PC gamers, and not all of them look to be readily accepted.

Infinity Ward's community manager Robert Bowling confirmed rumors that the developer would be spurning the dedicated server clients traditionally seen for PC multiplayer in favor of a new, proprietary matchmaking service hosted on IW's own servers dubbed "IWNet". IWNet's matchmaking will automatically pit players of similar ranking against each other in games, though concerns have no doubt been raised over players not being able to choose their own servers.

Players themselves essentially become servers under the automatic matchmaking, andrisk incurring higherlag during matches. These higher latencies and performance issues could potentially reduce the size and scope of online multiplayer matches. Therequirement of the Steam digital content delivery platform also precludes support for PunkBuster in favor of Valve's Anti-Cheat (VAC) system for anti-cheating.

Ina BASHandSlash podcast, Bowling explained IWNet is intended to deliver an online PC multiplayer experience in the vein of Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. This desire to emulate console multiplayer on PC has raised the ire of PC gamers, assuming they aren't already in disbelief over the the lack of online co-op, initial lack of support formodding tools, as well as the possibility of paid DLC.

As you will have guessed, an online petition is already loose following the forum furor, andat timeof writingit's garnered over 72,000 signatures. Will their pleas fall on deaf ears? Will they end up trying to get the super ultra limited edition night vision goggle bundle instead, once again exclusive to consoles? Or perhaps they could jump ship to Battlefield instead, with DICEcoincidentally declaring their support foronline multiplayerin a Twitter post:

Dedicated servers FTW. What ever secures a better online experience is a given for us.

It's all about timing!

Source:DotDosh

Alternate Source:GameGrep

Section:PC Games

Related news storiesInfinity Ward addresses outcry over Modern Warfare 2 for PCOctober 20, '09DJs strut their stuff in DJ Hero mash-up trailerOctober 19, '09Miyamoto talks in-game help vids for New Super Mario Bros. WiiOctober 16, '09Psylocke officially announced for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2October 16, '09Two new DJ Hero television ads spottedOctober 15, '09Left 4 Dead 2 demo hits Xbox LIVE and PC on October 27October 15, '09YouTube removes Guitar Hero 5 video with Kurt CobainOctober 14, '09Wolfenstein PC demo releasedOctober 14, '09

Michael Jackson Guitarist Orianthi Says MJ Wanted ‘This Is It’ Concerts To Be ‘Perfect’Infinity Ward addresses outcry over Modern Warfare 2 for PC