A considerable portion of the Modern Warfare 2 subreddit reacted scornfully to the game’s Season 2 roadmap reveal and its two 6v6 maps, but spirits improved a little during the launch today when Infinity Ward announced that another new map will release sometime mid-season.
The discontent comes from the perception that players who spent $70 on last year’s new Call of Duty haven’t been getting enough new 6v6 multiplayer stuff, a feeling amplified by the sense that the free-to-play Warzone 2 gets more attention. The main topic of discussion has been Season 2’s new 6v6 maps: One of them, Dome, is a remake, and the other, Valderas Museum, was already seen in the open beta. That’s left 6v6 fans feeling like they’re getting leftovers.
Perhaps sensing the discontent, Activision announced on Twitter today that an original new 6v6 Modern Warfare 2 map will be added mid-season. The map was originally planned for a later date, but Infinity Ward’s multiplayer team “decided to move the map up, as it’s already play testing well and tracking ahead of schedule,” according to the tweet. Based on the image, it looks like the map is set in a mountain resort.
“This is CoD taking notice of all of you who took a stand against the BS treatment of paying consumers and saying ‘please don’t go,'” said one Reddit poster in response to the map announcement. “But this is only a start. In your protest against the treatment of MP if you decided that you weren’t going to buy the battle pass, I ask you, even now, please don’t.”
“One map isn’t enough,” said another commenter. “They’re already 2-3 behind. We need to keep the pressure on not accept the scraps they give.”
Not everyone’s pissed off about Infinity Ward’s treatment of 6v6 Call of Duty; the angrier comments tend to rise to the top, but there are expressions of Season 2 excitement to be found on Reddit and Twitter, too. I’m personally glad to have some new maps—the rotation was getting a bit stale—but I haven’t felt aggrieved by the pace of Infinity Ward’s 6v6 updates. Of course, I’m old, at least relatively speaking, which means my content metabolism has slowed. I just don’t have the appetite for maps I once did. (I’d be down for a pile of new gun attachments, though.)
Season 2 also adds two new maps for Ground War and Invasion—MW2’s large-scale modes—some new guns, ranked play, a Hardcore playlist, and a few “party” modes. Gun Game is one I’m looking forward to, but it seems to be coming later in the season, despite this Season 2 breakdown indicating otherwise. Modern Warfare 2 is also on sale for $45.59 right now on Steam.
Warzone 2, meanwhile, is looking more and more like old Warzone. For Season 2, it got a new island and the return of the Resurgence mode.
