In Robert Bowling's post on the subject on his blog, he states the new IWNet service for Modern Warfare 2 "will automatically find you a game with the best performance, ping, and preferences based on your location and individual connection." That sounds great - except that players are still dependent on the host server in a peer-to-peer setup. If a host disappears for any reason, players will have wasted time finding a "perfect" game only to be dropped. That doesn't happen with a dedicated server system. A player can have a favorite server and access it any time or day. They'll also know exactly what kind of performance to expect, an experience that a matchmaking system doesn't provide. Lastly no matchmaking system is perfect. Despite claims to the contrary, our experience with similar systems on both PCs and consoles has shown us that lag-free games aren't always a guarantee.

Yes, one can set up a private match and adjust the settings, which is great for more casual players, but clans and communities want more control. They want to be able to police the servers that they own. Will there be dangers from hacks and cheaters? Not if Valve's VAC system is used for the dedicated servers just like they are set up for Left 4 Dead and their other multiplayer games.

Possible 16-player multiplayer limit: While you have not officially announced how many players you will support for online matches in the PC version of Modern Warfare 2, our experience with such peer-to-peer systems suggests strongly the game will be limited to supporting 16 players per match, like the console version. However, PC gamers had support for 32 players or even more in Call of Duty 4 thanks to dedicated servers. It would be great if you would give us the final word on this matter but the fact that it hasn't been mentioned by you is yet another cause for concern.

We also want to say that your whole handling of this controversy has left something to be desired. From what we can see, your move to a matchmaking system instead of a dedicated server system was likely made months ago, yet you chose to reveal those plans just 3 1/2 weeks before the game shipped to stores. In fact, in an interview with Shacknews posted just a month ago when asked, "By the way, have you changed the way multiplayer games function on the PC at all?", Robert Bowling is quoted as saying, "PC will be the same as it always was." We have to wonder if you knew this change was going to upset a lot of people and kept it a secret until the last minute.

A simple solution would be to release a patch that will enable a dedicated server option for those hardcore PC gamers. That way, casual or average fans can still use IWNet's matchmaking system and everyone comes out a winner. We don't buy the argument that your studio head Jason West gave to Game Informer stating that such a move would "bifurcate the community" for two reasons. One is that your community is already split three ways between the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms. Surely one more won't matter, especially if you can win back your hardcore members. The other is that other games have offered up both matchmaking and dedicated servers for their PC games. Again we look at Valve's Left 4 Dead which does this without any complaints about a split community. Additionally, not being forthcoming with information and failing to put rumors to rest does more to divide the gaming community.

As it stands now we have trouble seeing how Modern Warfare 2 is the "biggest investment Infinity Ward has ever made into the PC version of our games" after considering these points. Ultimately, PC gamers like one thing that console games can't provide for the most part: Choice. Your decisions have removed much of the choice and freedom that your community have come to expect and that translates into a decrease in quality. Now they must make the ultimate choice; whether or not to buy your game.