No dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2 on PC

I feel like I should start this post with a stunned silence and maybe a bowed head...

...No dedicated servers for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? Sorry? what?!

Quick backstory, MW2 Community Manager, Rob Bowling was interviewed on a CoD and MW fan podcast called Bashandslash on Saturday.

Everything started off okay as they discussed the matchmaking in MW2 he'd been promoting at European events: "Jason West was dead-on when he was talking about the matchmaking servers for the PC, as we've been building up this system on the backend called 'IWnet' to allow match-making for our PC users as well, just like on the consoles … So you can get in there and play with players of the same rank," said Rob Bowling.

Asked if the match-making would interfere with the normal in-game browser, Bowling said simply, " It will". And then with some hesitancy, he threw in a bombshell for CoD PC gamers: "You're completely reliant on IWnet and there's no dedicated servers, or server lists”. Rob Bowling qualified this decision by talking up the private match feature:"So you rely on Iwnet for your matchmaking and finding games, but then you also have the private match, much like the other platforms where you can go in and customise... and then invite players to your server".

I get the impression Bowling hasn't entirely got a grip on how the IWnet system will work, as it was unclear whether players would host a game (a listening server) on their own system and personal broadband or whether IWnet would use another method. But he did confirm that the game would load through Steam (presumably for the community features of the service and the game updating service offered by Steamworks), but you'd then be sent to IWnet for matchmaking. This also means that Punkbuster has been dropped in favour of Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC).

Dedicated boxes have been the backbone of multiplayer gaming on the PC. For those that don't know what this means, most of the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of games you see listed in your games' particular search browser are paid for by clans and individuals. These are real server boxes (or virtual ones) that are rented from game service providers (GSPs) for a monthly fee.

This will be a tough, bitter, bitter pill for the PC gaming community to swallow, as people view their right to run their own servers as fundamental to their hobby. They want the control, they actually want to tweak their servers and develop plugins and fun mods to amuse their mates. This also raises the question of whether the modders will be able to make their own full-conversions or mods for MW2. The impression I get is no.

Even when asked if it might be possible to run a server, by buying an extra copy of MW2 and effectively creating a dedicated server by scripting private match setups, the response was that Infinity Ward was focused on a "mentality of making it more accessible". A mentality that I see as emulating the way that Bungie's Halo 2 multiplayer was managed on Xbox Live.

Bungie's approach was very successful (aside from the smack-talk from 12-year-old players from the good o' US of A) and it created a large, dedicated community. The game types changed regularly and new maps and updates kept it thriving (it may still be doing well, I've not played it in years). I assume Infinity Ward hopes that by taking complete control of the environment in which people play multiplayer that this will make the general experience more enjoyable for the average player.

MW2 multiplayer will be highly customisable. It sounds like you may be able to create 'mod-like' custom settings for your private games. I can imagine that even tournaments and league matches could be run using the private match system on a separate, high-end machine and a good connection (assuming IWnet does use a listening server), although you'd have to sit there and manually set games up.

Arguably this decision would not have been popular at any time, but what Infinity Ward appears to have done by not being open about this move is alienate an even larger group of players.

Expect Infinity Ward to confim (either way) what Rob Bowling has said very soon. But why a community manager would say this stuff without it being true is hard to fathom, because it's already created a nice mountain of pre-order cancellations.

I guess we'll be doing a whole lot more Call of Duty 4 events then... which reminds me, our next PCFormat CoD4 event is on 29th October and we'll be playing Predator (or running away from the Pred) in the excellent, community made, Obscuritymod.