The Warzone devs controversially decreased Massive Resurgence’s player count from 150 to 100, and community members flamed the decision.
In 2020, Patrick Kelly, Studio Head at Infinity Ward, told USA TODAY in an interview that they had 200 player lobbies working in the studio and were playtesting the higher player count. The vision never came to fruition, with Warzone 2 only supporting 150 player lobbies.
Before the battle royale sequel launched, FaZe Swagg followed up with the Warzone devs in April 2022. Swagg asked Raven Software if there were any plans for 200-player lobbies. Senior Warzone Creative Lead Josh Bridge revealed: “We love the idea [but] technical challenges” held the change back.
Raven Software ended up going one step further and decreased Warzone’s player count on Al Mazrah down to 100 from 150 in April. And now, Massive Resurgence suffered a similar fate, driving the player base crazy.
Warzone players question Massive Resurgence name after change
To explain Al Mazrah’s player count decrease back in April, the devs argued: “We’re reducing the number of players across our core Battle Royale modes, which will prevent the match feeling too chaotic but provide improved matchmaking times, faster pre-game lobbies, and a better quality of match overall.”
On October 18, 2023, the Warzone devs followed suit by announcing: “We’ve just released an update that adjusts the Massive Resurgence player count from 150 to 100.”
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It’s unclear if Raven Software has the same motivation behind this change, but community members couldn’t agree with the choice.
🛠️ #Warzone We've just released an update that adjusts the Massive Resurgence Player count from 150 to 100.
— Call of Duty Updates (@CODUpdates) October 18, 2023
As previously mentioned, FaZe Swagg has been at the forefront of pushing for increased player counts. The streamer responded: “The biggest L. yall hate fun i stg.”
Fellow content creator TheTacticalBrit added: “This doubles down to me that 100 players appear to be a performance problem, not a fun-related issue. Their servers literally cannot handle more than 100 without terrible performance.”
Other community members fear the worst for Warzone’s future, as WZ streamer Smixie bid farewell: “We had a good thing. 150 will be missed.”
In saying that, Raven Software has not yet revealed its plans for Warzone’s player count in Modern Warfare 3. We are sure to learn more ahead of the battle royale’s expected December release.