Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: System requirements increase but remain low

In two days, the free two-day beta test of the next Call of Duty starts. According to the system requirements published in good time for this, the processor hunger of the shooter is increasing at the lower end of the spectrum this year.

For the open beta, Activision initially made no further statements about the resolution and frame rate minimum and recommended system requirements are mentioned. Compared to the specifications for the predecessor Vanguard, the information that is still roughly given refers to the beta, but will hardly change – the finished game will be released on October 28th at prices of at least 70 euros.

Above all, the entry hurdle is now greater. Instead of a two-core processor with four threads, Activision uses four cores of an Ivy Bridge CPU, and AMD uses one, albeit old, six-core processor from the first Ryzen generation, which was still part of the recommended configuration for Vanguard. 8 gigabytes of RAM and an AMD Radeon RX 470 or Nvidia GTX 960 were mid-range performance in 2015. Seven years later, their frame rates are easy to catch even with entry-level GPUs.

More threads are recommended. A Core i7-4770K still only has four cores but eight threads and is a generation younger than the minimal version. The alternatively named Ryzen 7 1800X differs primarily from the Ryzen 1600X by two additional cores. In addition, Activision uses 16 gigabytes of RAM and a Radeon RX 580 or GeForce GTX 1060. Both are a generation younger than their Minimal counterparts.

Call of Duty is again one of the games that come up with acceptable system requirements this year. That makes sense, since the shooter makes most of its revenue from the multiplayer mode, where the very best graphics are less important. Low barriers to entry then maximize player potential.