No dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2 PC; Infinity Ward to run matchmaking service

Posted Oct 18th 2009 9:00AM by John Callaham
Filed under: FPS, Multiplayer, Modern Warfare 2

If one believes the messages that some of the hardcore fans of the Call of Duty series have posted on message boards, this is a dark weekend for people who wanted to get the PC port on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. According to a pod cast on fan site BashandSlash.com, Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has confirmed that the PC version of their upcoming first person shooter won't have dedicated server support.

Instead, Bowling said that Infinity Ward will be handling all the multiplayer servers for the game themselves under their own IW.net system for matchmaking and server support. He did say there will be private server support for players who wanted to create their own custom matches. IW.net will be run in conjunction with Steam which will include VAC anti-cheating support.

Naturally the news of no dedicated server support has many hardcore fans of the previous games in an uproar, especially those folks who have set up dedicated servers for previous games in the series (and even charging money for hosting those servers) and won't be able to do so for Modern Warfare 2. Bowling admits this is a big change but says the reason for their moves is to give the average PC gamer a better experience playing the game online. Bowling admitted that he did not know about the status for mod support for the PC version or if such mods could be hosted by the new IW.net.

By the way, Bowling also stated that the PC version of the game is not delayed and is still scheduled for a November 10 release. A number of web sites posted up unconfirmed reports of a delay a couple of weeks ago but we choose not to report on those rumors since there was no real proof of a delay.

Gallery: Modern Warfare 2 Screenshots

Tags: activision, activision-blizzard, call-of-duty, call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2, infinity-ward, modern-warfare-2, steam

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Once the kings of PC online gaming (CoD 1 and United Offense expansion) and now we are but an old boot.

:( what did we do to deserve this? We loved CoD back then!Posted at 10:58AM on Oct 18th 2009 by sicsided

I'm trying to look at this in the most positive light. If this makes it easier to play with friends and doesn't give us a laggier gameplay experience, I might be ok with it personally. I never thought COD4 had much of a mod or custom mapping community, but having a dev-run matchmaking service hasn't stopped mods and maps being made for Left 4 Dead, so all hope might not be lost. Perhaps it's a good idea to wait on more info before declaring this to be some "day of infamy" some gamers are talking about.

Honestly, I'm more concerned if they don't include a lean function, which I'm seeing more cross platform shooter doing less and less these days (Wolfenstein and FEAR2 have gotten rid of this).Posted at 11:57AM on Oct 18th 2009 by ChimpWithAHandgun

its gettin cracked anyway he he Posted at 8:48AM on Feb 23rd 2011 by LMFAO

What the FUCK!!Posted at 2:50PM on Oct 18th 2009 by IRONFIST

Uh, average PC gamer? Anyone gaming on the PC isn't average, it's the high end. That was such a corporate excuse by Bowling.Posted at 3:39PM on Oct 18th 2009 by cVolt

why have you dowing this 2 ush i got a sever and clan i was going 2 buy the game but not now fuck it you fucked it upPosted at 10:25PM on Oct 20th 2009 by CRAIG

who the fuck is the average pc gamer? the average pc gamer is pissed off about this. we aren't playing on consoles for a reason.Posted at 8:32PM on Oct 18th 2009 by zac

@ChimpWithAHandgun

Left4Dead is on dedicated servers, they only use match making to connect people to the closest server!

I know this because my clan has 19 L4D dedi servers for others to enjoy, not us.

I'm not buying this with or without dedi servers but if I decided to, that's gone completly out the window.Posted at 9:05PM on Oct 18th 2009 by David

fuck fuck fuck fuck OH FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO FUCKING DEDICATED FUCKING SEVERS? WHAT FUCK THE FUCK?Posted at 10:07PM on Oct 18th 2009 by dude

Apparently I'm the only one not stuck in 1997, because I think this is a great move forward. We're not running at 56 baud anymore, and... just in case you hadn't noticed... our computers are pretty powerful these days. They're more than capable of hosting and playing a game at the same time with no lag. If a weak-ass 360 can do it I'm pretty sure the average gaming rig can.

The match making in COD4 on 360 was awesome, bring on the future... bring on the death of dedicated servers.Posted at 10:21PM on Oct 18th 2009 by Sinnix

@Sinnix

And bring on the death of mods and custom maps, too? The one, major thing that set the PC apart from consoles? The thing keeping people's interest in games like Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike Source, while console games with matchmaking are rarely ever played for more than six months? (Halo, Call of Duty, and Gears of War being the exceptions.) Using IWNet will ensure the death of these custom maps and mods that PC gaming is known for.

If Infinity Ward hosts their own dedicated servers, and Valve's official L4D servers are any indication, then we'll see major lag issues during primetime hours with no alternative but to not play at all. At least L4D has the option to play on unofficial dedicated servers.Posted at 11:34PM on Oct 18th 2009 by Bslashingu

I find it funny that people are mentioning Left4Dead. There ARE dedicated servers in Left4Dead. There are dedicated servers run by Valve, as well as dedicated servers that are owned by clans. From what it sounds like, the only available option will be to play in Infinity Ward's servers, there will be no owning your own dedicated server.

Oh, and how long did anybody use Left4Dead matchmaking before they found out there was a way to use a server browser and started using it instead? Not long.Posted at 12:24AM on Oct 19th 2009 by Redmist

I have a horrible feeling that games for PC are going to be extinct. Each time, more and more is being done for games for consoles. That sucks!Posted at 1:13AM on Oct 19th 2009 by Andres

get signing the Petition against it :-

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?dedis4mwPosted at 1:40AM on Oct 19th 2009 by roch

Infinity Ward is going to loose fans BIG TIME. 'Changes', 'Changes', 'Changes', WTF! Now they're going on Steam, that is not COD to me anymore. They can put MW2 in their ass!!!
I'm so dissapointed now!Posted at 11:21AM on Oct 19th 2009 by Ellena

PIck 100 PC gamers.. ask them what they think. You guys obviously don't play in the community. I hope you guys at activision and Infinity Ward, shit all over yourselves.Posted at 12:15PM on Oct 19th 2009 by pissed the fuck off

This is bullshit, I mean, you could play with a lot of people with very different skills in very different servers and that made you either a great player or an average one, and even the average did understand the great things of finding people and making friends wherever and whenever. Mods were great, I loved the custom maps and even some of them were better than the ones made by IW themselves. Making this a streamlined console system, kills all the things that made multiplayer great in the first place. Even servers that supported more than 24 players were crazy and that alone made the game a totally unique experience. Maybe the system could work, but for me it's a betrayal of what a PC game could be and should be. Call of Duty is what it is today thanks to the PC player, but it looks like IW forgot who made what they are today...sad, very sad.Posted at 3:14PM on Oct 19th 2009 by (RTG)DANTELV3

The day I read that they built CODMW2 from the ground up I knew it in my gut that it would be the end of mods and competitive cod.

I wonder if they realize the only reason anyone still plays coduo or cod2 is because of the strong modding community that tweaked the game and added new content to it.

Video game longevity are due in part to COMMUNITIES. Groups of clanmates and regulars that congregate regularly on a specific server creates a community of players which is extremely resilient to time. This experience cannot be replaced by "friends lists."

I was going to get this on first day release, now I'm giving it a skip until I hear that IW dug their heads out of their asses and unfucked their game.Posted at 6:50PM on Oct 19th 2009 by frago-roc

No dedicated servers? I'd be okay with that, if I lived in the USA! Playing on international servers is bad, because of the high ping. They should think on people like me, who lives on a stupid countryside town in Brazil, where the fastest connection available is a stupid 1Mb!

As a CoD veteran, I'm extremely pissed of with this, seeing one of my fav PC series having a "better treatment" on Consoles.Posted at 5:48PM on Oct 19th 2009 by someone

It's been a series of disapointments this year, so far Wolfenstein MP sucked, dayone of launch their MP dev team gets the boot, then OFP2 has no dedicated servers, a good game in principle with no chance of being a community favorite and now this.
IW.net, omg, this is like when Novalogic did their own servers for Joint Operations, it doesn't allow for a community to take it as their own baby. Unfortunately this is all about money, an ass load of money to be made. 3rd party groups attempting to sell COD servers to clans or to host private leagues can forget all that now. All i'm holding out for now is BFBC2 for PC.
Posted at 8:18PM on Oct 19th 2009 by Brett