Top graphics, refreshing gameplay ideas, few bugs and please no World War II – that’s probably the typical requirement profile for a new Call of Duty at the moment. CoD 2022 is called Modern Warfare 2 and sets out to fulfill all these wishes.

There is one more thing I would like to add to this wish list. A “feature” that Call of Duty has criminally neglected for years: direct communication with players. This is exactly the one thing that makes Warzone so much better than all other CoD games. You can think what you want about the battle royale, but the communication between players and developers has evolved greatly in recent years.

I’ve been playing Call of Duty regularly for 14 years now, know every title at least superficially, and some have been played to death until they couldn’t be played anymore. What I’ve never or rarely experienced in the process is a healthy relationship between the developers and the community of the biggest shooter franchise. Yet that would be so important and Warzone currently shows how it can work properly. If Modern Warfare 2 follows suit, the latest CoD game could actually usher in a new era for the series.

I go into more detail about how CoD MW2 would benefit from a better feedback culture and how Warzone is currently already successfully implementing that. If you want to take a look at the gameplay of CoD MW2 beforehand, you can find almost a complete mission from the campaign in the video here:

Become the biggest fans of your own community!

If you ask me today if CoD MW2 will be a hit, then I’ll give you a clear: definitely. Even if fellow shooter Marko Jevtic wouldn’t agree with me unreservedly. Cold War and Vanguard just didn’t make it out of the big shadow of CoD MW 2019 and Modern Warfare seems to be just the right setting again.

In terms of graphics and shooter gameplay, I’m not worried. Call of Duty regularly delivers top performances there.

But what could make it a landmark, what might even make it the best Call of Duty ever, is Warzone’s communication and feedback strategy.

Warzone celebrates its fans, is much more responsive to feedback these days, and it shows in the changes made to the game. This is exactly what I want to see more of, and why I can finally recommend Warzone to my friends and fellow gamers again: Is it worth it to still play CoD Warzone in 2022? The 5 best changes of the last months

Warzone found the right way

I don’t want to say that Warzone’s communication between developer and player is perfect. Not at all. There is still a lot of frustration today with issues like “field of view” settings on consoles and “skill-based matchmaking”.

And the first 1.5 years of Warzone were also marked by “secret” changes to the game, little communication and a lot of caginess. But then suddenly something happened, which I would like to illustrate with three examples:

• Experts for their own gameplay meta
• Explanation of thoughts behind changes
• Gameplay decisions about community

Experts for own gameplay meta

It sounds completely insane, but in the first year of Warzone, adjustments to weapons were sometimes very arbitrary. Strong meta weapons were not generated for a long time, and in general people were rather reluctant to make weapon changes.

And then, almost from one day to the next, the changes suddenly made sense. I remember an analysis from CoD expert “TheXclusiveAce” who said in a video about Warzone: “I think they hired someone to take care of it now”. Since then, we’ve been getting detailed patch notes, regular weapon adjustments, and it’s noticeable that Warzone is taking a hard look at weapon balance and the corresponding player feedback.

Explanation of the thoughts behind changes

The developers now regularly explain their thoughts behind changes in the patch notes for Warzone. They even reveal their long-term strategy. Currently, the changes in Battle Royale are based on three pillars:

• More counters
  • All mechanics should have appropriate counter gameplay
• More Movement
  • You should progress faster and movement techniques are expanded.
• More game time
  • The time you spend watching in the match shall be reduced

A clear announcement to all players about what to do next. Something to maybe even look forward to. The communication of such thoughts helps us players to understand decisions and also gives a view of the future.

With over 75,000 votes, nearly 72% of participants voted for an increase, which then came into play with Mid– Season 2 – first for the big Battle Royale and later for the modes with fewer players. Such a feedback culture brings us as players closer to the development process, which creates connectedness and understanding. One player in particular has stood out to me in a particularly positive way: senior creative director at Warzone developer Raven Software Ted Timmins. Time and again in recent months, he’s been caught participating in contentious discussions and providing clarification.

If CoD MW2 flops, the entire series wobbles

The Call of Duty community has always been used to getting little to no answers. Only rarely did those responsible respond to the concerns of the players in the past. Especially when the game had already been released.

The low willingness of those responsible to provide information is also a reason why the CoD community has developed in a rather toxic direction. No official body has even come close to trying to do something about these tendencies in the community. If, then only the ban hammer spoke.

With CoD Vanguard, this “disconnectedness” reached a temporary peak just recently. The setting in World War II went far past the wishes of many players, the zombie mode was torn apart by the otherwise so dedicated zombie community.

With Warzone, Call of Duty proved that the people in charge can listen to feedback. Even use it to shape the Battle Royale and make it better.

And it’s high time for the premium titles to adopt this Warzone habit as well. Vanguard already showed this in rudiments. But due to the extensive negative feedback on the game, the willingness to communicate quickly waned after release. Vanguard was not a flop, and sold extremely well compared to other games. But it was weaker than Cold War. And Cold War was already a good bit below CoD MW 2019.

If Modern Warfare 2 doesn’t turn things around, Call of Duty is likely to quickly be seen as a problem franchise again at Activision, much like it was after Black Ops 4, the CoD of 2018. And suddenly, the important annual premium releases are on the line.

I truly believe that the key to success is to engage more with us players, actively moderate feedback, and discuss ideas to improve the game with us. Especially if there really is no CoD 2023.

Then I might even believe the people in charge this year with their obligatory slogan: “Experience the new generation of Call of Duty”. Then CoD MW2 will be the smash hit of the year!

I’m also interested in your opinion on the topic. Discuss with me my thesis about the new CoD in the comments or tell me what you think should not be missing in CoD MW2.

If you’d rather read about the announced new features of Modern Warfare 2, then check out: The 5 most important new features in CoD MW2 and why I can only think of Warzone 2.