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‘Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare:’ Lessons Learned From The Beta, What To Expect During Launch Week

By Asma M
Published on: 20:36 PST, Nov 1, 2016

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare releases later this week on November 4 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC after two weekends of worldwide multiplayer beta testing. Activision has outlined what they’ve learned from the Beta and what changes are being implemented by developer Infinity Ward before the highly anticipated game launch.

The Activision blog addresses the server issues reported by some players early on in the Beta, noting some of the problems include host migrations and poor match quality. These concerns have reportedly been addressed by the changes made to their dedicated server system and players should notice dramatic improvements on launch day.

The publisher also explains that some of the server improvements come from changes to their server infrastructure.

“One of the major infrastructure changes we made this project was how dedicated server allocations work. We’re using a new load balancing system on the servers themselves, as well as pretty heavily changed how the game chooses a datacenter to use, and requests a dedicated server from that datacenter.”

Significant changes have already been implemented for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer matchmaking. During the Beta, players may have experienced disconcertingly long matching times. According to the publisher’s notes, the long wait is the result of extensive connection testing between potential players. The restrictions have since been relaxed to shorten the matchmaking process.

Improvements have also been made to speed up the process of joining a match already in progress.

“The matchmaker was always quite good at generating new lobbies, but one thing we noticed was that queueing into a join in progress situation was taking much longer. This was due to some issues in the way we track information about the lobbies that are currently playing a match. These issues were also addressed during the beta, and sped up the join in progress case immensely.”

Much of the Infinite Warfare weaponry is also getting overhauled in time for release day. To put the spotlight on some of the overall changes, shotgun damage at close range is increasing, and aim assist won’t be active until the optic covers the player’s in-game eye.

Specific changes for some weapons are detailed as follows: the Howitzer Grenade Launcher is changing to permit being fired from the hip, the Reaver and Banshee are getting “a slight bonus to their one trigger pull range,” aim assist is getting toned down for bolt action snipers like the KBS Longbow, and the RPR Evo epic variant/Ripper is going to be harder to handle with some added recoil to offset its fire rate.

The culmination of all the changes mentioned may result in balancing how long it takes for a gun to eliminate its intended target. The time to kill, or TTK, in Infinite Warfare has been a polarizing issue for fans thus far. Although Activision states that some tweaks have been made to TTK for Day One, players should anticipate an ongoing balancing process.

“We know a lot of you had different experiences with TTK during the Beta. With the above adjustments to dedicated servers, matchmaking, and weapon tuning, we think you’ll find that the TTK will be more balanced at launch, both on the attacking and receiving end. We’ll continue to monitor and balance throughout the year as need[ed] and would love your feedback in the process.”

“We’re always looking at TTK and will continue to balance and monitor.”

Gamers curious to see the improvements can watch gameplay from Infinite Warfare being shown during the special “Race to Prestige” live stream on the official Call of Duty Twitch channel beginning at 6 a.m. PT. The event supports jobs for veterans through donations made to the Call of Duty Endowment.

The launch trailer has also arrived, featuring celebrity guest stars Michael Phelps and Danny McBride.

What did you think of the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Beta? Are you excited about the changes being made in time for the global release? Sound off in the comments below.

[Featured Image by Activision]

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