When Infinity Ward flicked the switch on crossplay with Modern Warfare, PC players were given a major graphics advantage… And now players want a slide of the FOV cake!
Modern Warfare took the Call of Duty franchise to new heights in more ways than one. Alongside introducing a season-based model for in-game progression and content delivery, Infinity Ward added crossplay into the mix.
While there are many benefits to cross-platform gaming, there are numerous nuances that benefit respective platforms. For example, there is the age-old debate of the role of aim assist on console and just how much that benefits those on the sticks versus PC players.
While console players have aim assist to compensate for the unnatural feeling of aiming with thumbsticks as opposed to the trusty keyboard and mouse, PC players have a Field of View (FOV) slider.
What is a FOV slider, you may ask? Essentially, PC players currently have the option to alter their perspective of how Modern Warfare appears — enabling a more zoomed-in version or a wider viewing angle to suit the needs of a player.
The absence of this feature on a console has got plenty riled up on the Modern Warfare subreddit, who have stated their case for the FOV slider.
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The Reddit user made reference to other notable AAA titles, such as Titanfall and Battlefield, and how the feature is available on both the PC and console variants of EA’s hit games.
Essentially, the crux of the debate is that console players who are currently pitted against PC players are currently at a disadvantage — given that they have the option to see more of the map at any given time in comparison to a console players fixed FOV.
However, one Redditor didn’t appear too hopeful in their response, stating: “Not to be a downer but there are thousands of this same post for every subreddit Call of Duty has ever had… The fact of the matter is, Activision won’t do it. They don’t care if other companies do it.”
While, yes, the reality is that other rival games such as Battlefield and Apex Legends offer the ability to customize FOV, Activision has stuck to their guns with Modern Warfare regardless of crossplay.
The fact of the matter is, there may be an inherent hardware restriction on consoles which would impact frame-rate when a wider FOV is selected due to the strain this would place on the graphics processor.
As such, with crossplay seemingly here to stay, there might be scope to embed an FOV slider in the next generation of consoles… Especially since both have significantly better hardware specifications, according to recent leaks.