The Call of Duty community has had a mixed relationship with ranked play over the years. The way ranking works has evolved, with some titles like Modern Warfare 2019 not featuring competitive play at all.
Warzone has experimented with a ranked play system, with varying results depending on the season. As one of the most competitive first-person shooter franchises, Call of Duty fans eagerly anticipate the return of ranked play each year. However, it hasn't always been available shortly after a game's release.
Developers often wait several months before announcing ranked play. But this year, fans will have the opportunity to climb the ranks sooner, thanks to the smooth transition from MW2 to MW3.
Treyarch, the studio behind the most recent ranked play iteration featuring a "Skill Rating" system and "Rank Divisions," is returning to bring ranked play to MW3. This exciting news was revealed during the Call of Duty Next event.
Greg Reisdorf, the multiplayer creative director, expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "Our friends at Treyarch are on the case again with ranked play. They do a fantastic job with it, and we love partnering with them. They are going to bring that experience, update it, modernize it, from MW2 for season one point five."
It's expected that the ranked play system will maintain a similar structure to the current version to align with the previous title's continuity.
Reisdorf mentioned that launching ranked play in the middle of season one will allow players to become familiar with the newly refined title before diving into the competitive aspect. While there's no confirmed release date for season one yet, MW3 officially launches worldwide on November 10.