Community Updates - January 2017

It’s the beginning of a new year and we have plans to make 2017 as exciting as ever for Infinite Warfare and our fans. Since we launched the game, we’ve gathered a ton of feedback from the community. No matter the topic, it’s always productive. This discussion sustains us. It keeps us working hard as we strive to consistently raise the bar for our game development in ways that deliver a best-in-class military shooter. And to keep it up, we want to continue encouraging insightful, helpful conversation about the game we all love to play. So, with that in mind…here’s what we have to tell you today:

Leaderboards, Combat Records and Emblem Editor.

They’re being worked on and are going through waves (and waves) of testing at the moment. Please be patient with us and we’ll be sure to keep you updated as these features come online.

Before the end of this month we’ll roll out Leaderboards, and by late February we’ll release Combat Records and the in-game editor that allows for custom emblem creation. We know everyone is anxious to get their hands on these features and we’re doing everything we can to finish testing, wrap them up and get them out to you.

To provide some insight into the leaderboards, we’ve been designing a system that promotes the competitive spirit of our multiplayer. Our leaderboards will tell you what percentile you’re in overall and, if you’re in the top 10,000 overall, you’ll be able to see your specific rank in that list of 10,000. The idea behind this is that you have to earn your way onto the list of the top players in world. Even if you’re not a competitive player, you’ll know what percentile overall you reside in, as mentioned, but you’ll also be able to see how you stack up against friends in our weekly, monthly, and all-time friend leaderboards. Once the update is live your leaderboards will be populated after you play a match in that mode. So, don’t fret if you don’t see all your data straight away. We’ll be rolling out more details on the leaderboards once they are live.

If there’s additional interest in other updates or general things, remember that we publish notes whenever there’s been a patch or update to the game that you can read on our website, InfinityWard.com or on Reddit.

What else is happening at the studio this year?

A Lot. We’re constantly working on new game modes, new ideas to keep things exciting, and increase support for all players, including the needs of CWL and esports players.

Livestreams. We have a ton of talented developers who work here and our livestreams help us share the development process with you, introduce more members of the team, allow you to ask us questions directly, and offer behind the scenes access. The team is always eager for the chance to interact with you. Our livestreams will be a means of fostering further dialogue throughout the year. 

For our next stream, we’ll go behind the scenes with our animation department to discuss how they do what they do. After that, we’ll be speaking with the zombies team who is taking you back to the 1990s with our first Rave in the Redwoods livestream. We’ll discuss the design, the setting, and the horrors the cast of Willard Wyler’s next film will have to endure, so keep an eye on our social channels for timing and more information. Also, be sure to check out all our livestreams on our Twitch channel.

Tactical TDM! We’ve received so much positive feedback about Tactical TDM, so… we’ll be leaving this mode in permanently! We’ll discuss what this means and how it will be playable as we roll out updates to our playlists.

And, we know not everyone can play during the weekend, so we’ve decided to make all of our featured modes available for an entire week instead of just a weekend, so you’ll have ample time to complete those challenges and party up with your friends.

Additionally, we’re looking at what other multiplayer modes might be fun to play with the characteristics of tactical added to them. We’ll update you on that further.

Sabotage DLC. It’s our first DLC of the year and we couldn’t be more excited to bring you four new multiplayer maps and a new zombies experience. And it kicks off a full season of awesome new gameplay coming your way. A lot of the feedback and reactions we saw from the community from launch has helped shape these maps, so thank you for all the suggestions and comments you’ve posted to us over the past few months. You’re all an integral part of the process and we can’t wait for everyone to play. We’ll be sharing more about the upcoming DLC as we get closer to our January 31^st release date but until then, feel free to check out CallofDuty.com for the latest.

You’re playing, we’re listening…(and playing alongside you too)

Maintaining and constantly improving the game is our top priority. We always have a plan of action for updates and patches, but in some cases require more testing time that can pump the brake, sometimes soft, sometimes hard, on the exact expected timing. This is especially true for things you may encounter in game, which is where your detailed feedback is invaluable to us. Things that require code changes, like map exploits for example, can take a bit longer and require more investigating while smaller patches can usually be created and deployed fairly quickly.

Acknowledging unexpected issues that pop up is an important to us, and we always need as much information as possible to create the fix. Until we have that particular solution tested and working, it’d be unfair for us to tell you specifics about the fix, but rest assured that the team is cranking away.

Are you working with Pro Players?

Yes. We’ve been working with various players since before the game was released. The pro community is a unique subset of the Call of Duty community. They bring a particular perspective to our game and to the competitive scene. From year to year, these players work together to find the perfect team, learn a new game, and adjust to playing in a different in-game setting, so gathering their feedback is crucial when it comes to development and creating the best experience for them as they head into a new CWL season.

One of the biggest features we removed due to pro feedback was the weapon draft that was mentioned in an early version of the rules for competitive Infinite Warfare. After many conversations, we decided to remove it from the upcoming season and focus our attention on other aspects of the competitive scope. For example, we’ve altered hybrid weapons, moved bomb sites, tuned various weapons, adjusted Payloads, and fixed bugs as we saw them. Are there more changes coming? Yes, and we’re working closely with folks at the CWL to help ensure these changes don’t overlap or happen right before major events.

How can you continue to help?

Please keep giving us your feedback. There are many ways to reach us be it Twitch, Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, or via customer support.

We pore over player data, feedback, and suggestions with as many players as possible. Every player is an important part of the community. We want to know when you’re experiencing an issue or run into something we’ve never seen before, but we always need specific information to make a call on any possible solutions we can create.

To help, tell us as much detail as possible. This should include how often you encounter a problem, what platform you’re playing on, the mode you’re playing, and if you can reproduce it. Video and screenshots are extremely helpful in these scenarios too.

As always, we’d ask that folks stay productive and minimize threatening or demeaning language. Conversations about robots, however, are always welcome.

You banned players for taking part in the holiday key exploit?

Yes. Players who received a notification on their console were given a 48-hour ban along with a clean swipe of their keys and salvage. Ranks and inventory were not reset. Based on our ongoing review, additional penalties may be assessed in the coming weeks.

If you’d like to freshen up on the current Enforcement policy, you can read it here. It has been updated to reflect the specifics of our game, but the policies in place remain much the same from its initial version.

What about cheaters on PC?

We know it can be incredibly frustrating to run into others who you feel might be cheating, so with the recent update we’ve added some additional security measures to help prevent others from creating an unpleasant experience. We take cheating very seriously and we’re continuously investigating any and all reports we see.

Lastly, a big thank you!

We love our community. Having the many opportunities to play and talk with all of you is something we are eternally grateful for and don’t take for granted. We think of the community as part of our team and appreciate all of the support you’ve continued to give to us. There’s an exciting year ahead and we’re looking forward to having more conversations with you along the way. See you online!  

-@ashtonisVULCAN, Community Manager