Highlights

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is facing criticism for reusing maps and multiplayer content from its predecessor, which has led to accusations that it lacks its own identity.
  • The game's Prestige system, which allows players to reset their rank after reaching the highest level, is locked until the launch of Season One in December, which could result in player demotivation during the crucial initial weeks of the game.
  • The delay in Prestige availability is compounded by the carry-over system with Modern Warfare 2, as players have already unlocked a lot of content, potentially leading to a lack of progression and a decline in the player base.

A huge amount of scrutiny is currently being placed on the core multiplayer of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, with many accusing the title of not doing enough to carve out its own identity. This mainly stems from the release boldly choosing to re-use the maps of 2009's MW2, as well as carrying over a lot of the multiplayer content from its 2022 predecessor.

Despite this, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has made an effort to do things differently from a lot of recent releases for the IP, with its handling of its multiplayer rank system being a big example of this. As things stand, players are limited by how far they can progress through MW3's multiplayer by a rank limit, with the franchise's famous Prestige system being locked until further notice. While Sledgehammer Games has its reasons for this decision, it is clear that the repercussions of these rank limitations could be devastating for the title.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Prestige Lock Could Lose a Lot of Fans

modern warfare 3 gunfight

Prestige Mode has been a dominant factor of Call of Duty's multiplayer experience ever since the original Modern Warfare in 2007, going on to appear in almost every franchise entry since then. The mechanic has always been regarded as a fantastic way to boost the longevity of engagement with a given CoD's multiplayer, allowing fans to reset their rank back to level one after reaching the highest level possible.

A player's Prestige ranking acts as a direct representation of their mastery of a title, being regarded as an addictive badge of honor for many fans. This system has been controversially tweaked with recent Call of Duty releases, which instead opted for a much higher level cap that would reset at the start of a new in-game season, regardless of what rank players had attained. This form of Prestige System was present in the following CoD titles:

  • Black Ops Cold War
  • Vanguard
  • Modern Warfare (2019)
  • Modern Warfare 2 (2022)

It was recently confirmed that Modern Warfare 3 will be maintaining this form of Prestige System, befit a seasonal level cap. Unlike many past Prestige systems for Call of Duty, MW3's will reportedly not reset all the unlocked equipment that players have earned, with only a player's rank being reset.

Modern Warfare 3's Prestige System is Locked at a Crucial Time

While this sets up MW3's Prestige system as exciting, the main issue that surrounds the mechanic is that it will not be available until Season One of Modern Warfare 3 launches. With Season One not being expected to launch until December 6, fans will have had a full month of play-time before being allowed to Prestige.

The opening weeks of any CoD tile are massively important for dictating player retention and engagement, and it has always been important to allow fans a wide breadth of progression content to work towards during this time. Most consistent players will easily reach level 55 long before the launch of Season One, presenting a huge problem by leaving players unmotivated over the next few weeks.

The delay behind Prestige availability has only been made worse by Modern Warfare 3's carry-over system with Modern Warfare 2, with players already having unlocked a lot of the camos and weapon progression of MW2's multiplayer content. With players hitting a wall so early on in Modern Warfare 3's life cycle, the decision to keep the Prestige system absent during such a crucial time for the release seems quite bizarre.

Of course, once Season One eventually rolls around, MW3 will be boosted with a huge level of new content that could easily see the title experience a second wind of popularity. Despite this, the potential player-base falloff due to a lack of progression could make MW3's approach to Prestige mechanics a disaster for the release.