Call of Duty Modern Warfare Doesn’t Have FOV Slider, Here is Why!

Reportedly, the new Call of Duty Modern Warfare won’t feature FOV sliders and options on the console version of the game and there is a good reason for it.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare is being touted as a soft reboot or a revitalization of the COD franchise as well as the Modern Warfare series. There’s a lot of hype built around the game and the kind of options it will provide once the release date arrives. While most players care about the graphics, there are others who wonder about other options such as FOV (Field of View) in the upcoming Call of Duty Modern Warfare.

What is FOV?

In case if you are wondering, FOV stands for Field of View which refers to the viewing angle and the amount of information that is presented on the screen. The greater the FOV angle, the more the viewer sees on the screen. A narrower FOV shows less and a wider FOV shows more on the viewing screen.

FOV in games:

Although the basic definition and implementation of FOV are almost the same in all media such as film and photography, the implication of FOV is a bit different in games.

Although FOV scaling options are mostly found in shooting games, they are featured in a multitude of games comprising of all kinds of genres. They are found in third-person perspective games but are often found in first-person perspective shooters (FPS).

In first-person video games, the field of view or field of vision is the extent of the observable game world that is seen on the display during gameplay. A greater, wider FOV angle provides the advantage of seeing more on screen. Therefore, a player can see enemies from a wider direction and react quickly. The same goes for games that feature a third-person perspective.

Doom, Skyrim Special Edition, Battlefield 1, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, No Man’s Sky, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection (Both games), Bioshock (Only an on/off switch for “expanded FOV”), Killing Floor 2, all feature FOV sliders and scaling options on the console.

Why console games Like Modern Warfare don’t usually have FOV sliders:

There’s a disadvantage to having a wider FOV angle in games. Basically, the more information there is on the screen, the more processing power is required because all of those polygons and textures need to be rendered by the graphics processor and then displayed on the screen. Simply put, there is a cost to having a greater, wider FOV angle in a game.

Because of this reason, this is why typically we see FOV options in PC games more often as compared to console games. Although consoles are perfectly capable of delivering realistic graphics in games, PCs have the advantage of having more powerful and upgradeable hardware.

PCs are oftentimes capable of rendering more data in games as compared to consoles. Consoles have a fixed configuration that can handle only what it is designed to. This is why we don’t see FOV options in most console games.

Reportedly, the new Call of Duty Modern Warfare won’t feature FOV sliders and options on the console. The reason, although frustrating for a lot of players, remains the same. Consoles are limited by hardware and it takes a lot of processing power to render what it is on the screen. Increasing that angle also increases the amount of information that is being rendered and displayed in a game.

But not hope is lost, Call of Duty Modern Warfare will be locked at a 67-degree FOV on consoles which is still plenty when it comes to FPS games. So even if the game doesn’t feature a FOV slider, you still will be able to take down your enemies.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare is classified as a “soft-reboot” of the franchise, being developed by Infinity Ward for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 and has a release date set for October 25, 2019.