Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Hardcore Mode, Tier 1 Situation Explained

By Tanner Dedmon

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's full launch is upon us now with players able to finally partake in the game's multiplayer playlists, but not everything that was expected to be available during the game's launch is available. Namely, there's no Hardcore mode at all, an experience a not insignificant portion of Call of Duty players prefer to the core playlists. Since noticing its absence, players have called out previous posts from the game's creators that said this mode would be available in the game at launch.

But things are slightly more complicated in Modern Warfare 2 since there isn't a "Hardcore" mode at all, at least not by that name. It's been rebranded as "Tier 1" in this release, but even then, it's still not available at launch.

What Is Hardcore Mode and Tier 1?

Often referred to as a mode, "Hardcore" technically refers to playlists and not one specific mode. It's a multiplayer experience where players have less health, a limited HUD, and friendly fire is enabled. In Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward and Activision said that the game would feature Tier 1 playlists which essentially are the Hardcore variants.

"Tier 1: A Tier 1 Playlist is designated within a Playlist's name and offers a more challenging experience compared to traditional Multiplayer," a previous post from Activision and Infinity Ward explained. "Operators have less health and limited HUD elements, and friendly fire is on. These elements are consistent in all game modes that support the Tier 1 variant."

Where Is the Hardcore/Tier 1 Mode?

Whether you refer to it as Tier 1 or Hardcore, this mode isn't present in the game at all. Infinity Ward cautioned players right before the game's global release that the Tier 1 playlists wouldn't be available at launch.

Any kind of last-minute PSA like that naturally won't go over well with players, but this one's been received poorly still given that the same post detailing the nature of Tier 1 playlists said that everything referenced in that post would be available in the multiplayer experience at launch. And seeing how launch has arrived with no Tier 1 mode, players aren't too pleased and have been calling out the omission ever since.

Infinity Ward has not given an updated timeframe for when Tier 1 modes would be available beyond saying they'll be playable "soon."

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