Modern Warfare 3 Fans Up in Arms Over Early Access Exploit: “Unlock The Game Already”

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is less than a day from launching, but a common early access exploit has allowed thousands of players to get a headstart on the competition. It’s a yearly event in CoD, but fans have grown tired of the shenanigans.

It’s a tale as old as time itself. Every year, players get excited for that big ‘release night’ feeling of the next blockbuster entry in the Call of Duty franchise, and every year, we’re forced to watch as others exploit their location settings to make it seem like they’re in a different timezone, manipulating the regional rollout system to their advantage.

This season is different, though. While plenty of people are taking the digital trip to New Zealand, the community has collectively had enough and is calling on the devs to change their strategy.

Related: Modern Warfare 3 Create-A-Class Guide: Vests, Gear, & Customization

MW3 Fans Plead for Sledgehammer Games to Unlock The Game Early

The complaints kicked off early on November 9 as savvy players tweeted about their in-game conquests. Whether getting a headstart on weapon camos, revealing in-game screenshots, or generally boasting about their success, those out of the know quickly became interested.

As word spread about the exploit and more people hopped on the bandwagon, the resistance movement also started to grow. Users started calling each other out, the “cringe” word was thrown around, and people were generally split over it.

A glance over Sledgehammer Games’ Twitter/X replies will paint the picture for you. Comments like “just open the servers now” and “BREAK THE STREET DATE” are plastered everywhere.

Jon_NXT summed up the deflating nature of watching everyone else play, harkening back to the days when Global releases were the default strategy. “The whole concept of the hype behind COD’s “launch night” is pretty much ruined when everyone is online during the day utilizing bypasses. Might as well just unlock the game at this point.”

In fairness, Call of Duty developers are typically pretty generous with game access. They’ve opened servers early, extended beta days, and generally spoiled their eager community. There’s no telling if the fans will get what they want this time, but it’ll certainly be something for the next devs (assumedly Treyarch) to think about a year from now.