Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Beta Finally Tackles PC's Most Annoying Loading Bottlenecks
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
The upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta introduces background shader pre-loading and fewer forced restarts, tackling two of the most persistent technical headaches for PC players.
Anyone who plays shooters on PC knows the ritual. You fire up a fresh update, get comfortable, and then stare blankly at a progress bar while the game compiles shaders. Fortunately, as Eurogamer reports, Infinity Ward and Beenox are finally doing something about it for the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta. By shifting shader pre-loading into the background as soon as your download finishes, the developers are aiming to cut down those frustrating pre-match wait times that console players never have to deal with.
There are a few caveats for the beta period, of course. Players launching through Battle.net will get the smoothest implementation right out of the gate, while Steam users might still have to sit through a quick compilation pass on their very first boot. The real payoff arrives with the full release, which promises to eliminate the tedious re-compiling routine after major seasonal patches drop. Considering how bloated modern live service titles can be, streamlining this process is a massive win for PC performance.
The technical housekeeping does not stop at shaders. The team is also taking aim at the dreaded update loop that forces players to restart the game multiple times just to get into a lobby. While full restarts will still happen on occasion, especially on platforms like Xbox and the rumored Nintendo Switch 2 hardware, the reduction in unnecessary friction means less time fighting menus and more time actually playing. The beta kicks off this weekend following the Call of Duty: Next showcase, giving players across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox a chance to test these quality-of-life upgrades firsthand.
Tags: Call of Duty, PC Gaming, Game Dev, Shooters
Original article: Eurogamer