The fans are angry, the petitions are being signed, and Infinity Ward is paying attention - so they say.
We ran a story yesterday on the news that Modern Warfare 2 will not feature any dedicated server functionality, amongst other omissions. To say that the PC gaming community is vocally against the idea is putting it lightly.
Our opinion was pretty harsh, but reader feedback was nothing short of vicious. "Fu*k You infinity ward," said morgs36, "no sale from me have cancelled my pre order as i said in the forum if we wanted to play stripped down versions of any game we would buy consoles..." Other responses ranged from threats of violence through to reasoned arguments. "Best way to get the message through is not getting the game," said user johnnywazza. "Cancel your preorder and don't pirate it, can't afford to give them the excuse."
Online petitions sprung up all over the net, and many received tens of thousands of signatures exhorting developers Infinity Ward to re-think its stance. And, it seems, IW might be paying attention.
IW's Community Manager, Robert Bowling, said the following via Twitter: "[The petition] definitely made a big wave, and the response will not be ignored. I'll ensure everyone at IW sees the petitions and responses to it."
We've not yet had any response from local publisher, Activision.
With only a month to go to the game's launch, it's sadly unlikely that IW can turn the game around to accede to gamers' wishes, but hopefully some form of reponse, whether it be a zero-day patch or further updates post-launch, will be seen.
Our fingers are crossed.
Issue: 107 | December, 2009