Modern Warfare 3 will use dedicated servers for PC

Activision announced today at Gamescom that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will use dedicated servers to handle multi-player on PCs. Infinity Ward's Creative Strategist Robert Bowling comfirmed the news via Twitter earlier today. The announcement comes as a relief to some who worried the latest iteration of Call of Duty would use IWNet, the system used in the previous Modern Warfare game.

The history of servers in Modern Warfare is a storied one. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare introduced dedicated servers for the first time in the series, offering players a chance to play on reliable and privatized servers. But with the ability to customize your own games also came the ability to hack and cheat. To counter this, Infinity Ward introduced IWNet for Modern Warfare 2, allowing players to jump on and find a game with console-style matchmaking. The loss of customization and lag brought on by host migration led to complaints and boycotts for some.

With Modern Warfare 3, Activision is returning to dedicated servers allowing players to set and enforce their own rules. Activision does have concerns that the openness of dedicated servers could conflict with their upcoming social network Call of Duty Elite. Their plans for official contests with big prizes may conflict when dealing with players who create rule-sets with the intent to go around the rules and gain an advantage over other players.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is set to launch on November 8 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.