Popular Twitch streamer Jaryd ‘summit1g’ Lazar has explained why PC players are at a disadvantage on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and how controller players disproportionately benefit from aim assist.
The console vs PC argument has been raging for a number of years, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Games like Fortnite and Modern Warfare have recently incorporated crossplay, seeing PC players and console finally facing off against one another.
The main mitigating factor console players receive to even the playing field is aim assist, meaning there is a small amount of magnetization when aiming close to an enemy. PC players do not receive this benefit, being left to their more precise mouse movements.
Modern Warfare is the first Call of Duty game to incorporate crossplay, with the main pre-match lobby indicating what platform players are competing on.
Despite the widely-praised implementation, summit1g has criticized the move as unfairly benefitting console players, explaining that the boost provided by aim assist is often too powerful.
“I know you need aim assist for controller, I know you do. I get that,” the streamer said. “But f*ck! It’s not viable PC – mouse and keyboard and controller competing against each other. It’s just f*cking not.”
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“Those guys shoot their ARs it’s like a f*cking laserbeam,” he continued. “Are you kidding me? I have to pull down to compensate. They just have to put their crosshair in the right spot.”
He goes on to explain that, even when PC players lock on to an enemy at the start of a gunfight, the lack of aim assist paired with recoil makes it seriously difficult to ensure all shots are accurate.
This contrasts to console, where aim assist makes it disproportionately easy to ensure players hit five or six consecutive shots. “My wrist could flinch as I click, who f*cking knows,” he finished. “I don’t have the magnetization to help me.”
While summit clearly feels the current situation is unfair on PC players, many have been quick to compliment Infinity Ward and Activision for the implementation of crossplay in Modern Warfare.
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It is the first time in Activision’s incredibly popular FPS series that Xbox, PS and PC players can go against one another in the same lobby. Despite its implementation, professional Modern Warfare will still be played exclusively on PS4. While this is partly down to Sony paying Activision for exclusivity rights, it also suggests a knowledge that the ‘level playing field’ is not quite level.