Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 attachment tuning and pings disabled due to bugs

Infinity Ward has deactivated two of the game’s gameplay options Modern Warfare 2: Call of Duty as it battles bugs during the blockbuster shooter’s launch period.

Attachment tuning allows you to modify the stats of weapon attachments. It was leading to crashes. And the ping feature that allows enemies’ positions to be tagged for squadmates appears to have been disabled, after reports the ping marker would persist for an entire game if triggered during the player’s death.

“We are disabling attachment tuning until further notice to investigate crashes for users with five attachments tuned,” Infinity Ward said in a tweet. “If you currently have a tuned attachment equipped, you will need to unequip and reequip it to use your loadout.”

That’s straightforward enough, but the ping bug is causing more consternation among Modern Warfare 2 players — and Infinity Ward has yet to publicly acknowledge it.

Players reported on Reddit that, if they pinged an enemy during their character’s death animation, that ping would remain visible for an entire game. Many players said that they had at first assumed wallhacks — cheats that turn walls transparent — were being employed when they found their opponents seemed to be able to predict their locations.

Players now claim that the ping function has been disabled for all but private matches. Infinity Ward hasn’t confirmed this yet, or commented on the bug, which has obvious and serious consequences for gameplay balance.

The positive side of this is Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer launch has been the appearance of a Formula One-inspired map that had been announced in August, before disappearing from all official mentions and videos in September, and being excluded from the game’s beta test.

The original name of this map was Marina Bay Grand Prix. It appeared that it was based on the Marina Bay Street Cricuit which is home to the Singapore Grand Prix. Eurogamer reports the map is back in the game under the new name of Crown Raceway, with its location listed as “Southeast Asia,” but with the Singapore skyline still clearly visible. A possible culprit is Formula One, or operators of the Singapore racing.

Sometimes a name change isn’t enough, though. The luxury Amsterdam hotel is featured in another title Modern Warfare 2’s campaign has made its displeasure known and is considering further steps.

It seems as though solo indie developers aren’t the only ones facing legal action from brands over the locations of their games.