As is often the case with new entries in Activision’s long-running first-person shooter franchise, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has launched with more than a few issues, and some fans were quick to point out a surprising lack of features at release. While the campaign component has actually earned a surprising amount of praise, its mainstay multiplayer aspect—of particular importance given Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s expected two-year lifecycle—seems to have launched without some very basic features.
As pointed out by Reddit user u/blazeryan on the r/ModernWarfareII subreddit, there’s a laundry list of expected inclusions that have yet to be added to the game. Hardcore modes and proper leaderboard integration have yet to be implemented, and other essentials such as standard stat tracking, barracks, challenges, and metals—elements that have been present on launch day in almost every Call of Duty title dating back to the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare—haven’t been included. This communal outcry also comes after the release of a roughly forty-gig day-one patch for Modern Warfare 2.
What’s more, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 seems to be missing key features related to its revamped gunsmith mechanics. While the core conceit of constructing a weapon based on a receiver type instead of a pre-fab firearm works as intended, players currently can’t inspect weapons in gunsmith or save custom blueprints. Furthermore, custom reticles aren’t yet present, camo unlock notifications don’t pop up during gameplay as they should, and, perhaps most crucially, there doesn’t appear to be a way to disable crossplay.
While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 doesn’t at all seem to be in the same state of disarray Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 2042 launched in, these core omissions do make for some worrying comparisons. Dedicated Battlefield fans will remember that it took developer DICE months to add a simple scoreboard into Battlefield 2042, and the title, despite slow and steady improvement in the year since its troublesome debut, still comes across to many as lacking. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 likely won’t suffer from such egregious issues, though, if not addressed promptly, complaints from hardcore fans could slowly change into serious communal derision.
That said, major changes are certain to come to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in the coming weeks. Billed as a perennial live service, content and quality of life updates are likely to roll out sooner than later, and, with the launch of Call of Duty Warzone 2 in the coming weeks, those hoping for impactful changes probably won’t have to wait much longer.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.