The Call of Duty franchise has always had new content ready across devices for fans to explore. There’s almost always a new addition to the franchise on the horizon—recently, it’s been Warzone Mobile that the community has been waiting for.
The secret to its fast-paced launches might just have been discovered, though, and fans are not happy. With their perspective on the games completely changed, players are calling out Activision and demanding answers for its decisions.
The Newer Call of Duty Games Use the Same Old Engine
A CoD fan on X recently shared a screenshot containing information about Modern Warfare 3, Warzone, and Warzone Mobile. All of these titles share the same engine—IW 9.0—which is a highly upgraded version of what supported the original Modern Warfare released in 2007.
The fact that Call of Duty MW3, Warzone AND Warzone Mobile are all built on the same engine… is why I'm done holding my breathe that this franchise will ever improve🤷♂️ a game engine that was initially released over 18 YEARS AGO!!!🤯 pic.twitter.com/kD1X3ynTeX
— ItsHapa (@ItsHapa) February 26, 2024
Another fan brought up how the IW engine was based on id Tech 3, whose last stable release was in 2005.
"activision how cheap you wanna go?"
activision – YES pic.twitter.com/NByc9kh7ad— Tobias (@Affuki) February 26, 2024
Players have faced quite a bit of issues with the IW engine and were disappointed to hear that Warzone Mobile would be using it.
IW9 is the biggest mistake in the first place to begin with, shit even struggles on PC. It's not that good of an engine to begin with/cod devs not utilizing and optimizing the engine properly since they are forced to do yearly releases
— Captain Banana 🍌 (@VeryRealBanana) February 28, 2024
Even though the engine has been updated over time, fans demand a change from Acitivision.
Using iw engine for wzm is the dumbest thing that activision ever done fr💀
— Simon_Ghost141 (@SIMON_GHOST131) February 28, 2024
Throughout this discourse, Microsoft has surprisingly avoided shots from the community while Activision tanked them all.
A History Lesson on the Call of Duty Engine
Almost all the Call of Duty entries run on different iterations of the IW engine, with exceptions for a few titles released in between. Let’s quickly dive into the evolution of the IW engine, a key player in delivering the immersive experiences we’ve come to love.
The engine’s journey began in 2005 with CoD 2, operating under a proprietary license, and it wasn’t until E3 2009 that the engine got an official name – IW 4.0 – as it powered the much-anticipated CoD: MW2.
Before IW 4.0, we witnessed the prowess of IW 3.0 in CoD 4: MW. This iteration brought notable features like bullet penetration, enhanced AI, upgraded lighting engines, and more. Fast forward to IW 4.0, gracing MW2 and later CoD Online, introducing texture streaming for higher graphical details without compromising performance.
MW3 embraced an upgraded IW 5.0, boasting improvements in streaming technology for rendering larger regions. Then came CoD: Ghosts with IW 6.0, making its mark by supporting eighth-gen consoles and introducing Pixar’s SubD for intricate details.
Treyarch modified IW 3.0 for CoD: World at War, evolving into the Black Ops II engine with features like dynamic resolution scaling. Sledgehammer Games introduced a custom engine in CoD: Advanced Warfare, refined for subsequent titles. The baton passed to the revamped IW 8.0 in CoD: MW (2019), featuring ray tracing for PC.
Now, we enter the era of IW 9.0. Featured in MWII and MWIII, it introduces a cutting-edge water simulation system and embraces Intel’s Xe Super Sampling for top-notch visuals.
Do you think the IW engine is holding back the CoD franchise? Should Activision throw in the towel and shift engines? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
