Call of Duty: Ghosts gets an eSports-focused patch

There are not that many FPS games in the eSports arena lately. It seems that strategy games and MOBAs are the most popular competitive games, and old hits such as Counter-Strike are giving up their spots for more contemporary games, such as League of Legends, Dota 2 or Starcraft 2. Infinity Ward wants to rectify that, and their latest Call of Duty: Ghosts patch seems to be a pretty good indication of that goal. Besides addressing numerous minor issues and fixing bugs, the patch sets the stage for the development of Call of Duty: Ghosts on the competitive scene.

Here are the update’s eSports related changes:

• Removed stalls caused by the host changing loadout in eSports games.
• Silent plant, silent defuse in Search and Destroy.
• Added killstreak count to eSports scoreboard.
• Improvements to MLG Broadcast mode for highlighted players.
• Added Domination flag capture bar to Broadcast mode.
• Added R3 to toggle enemy player outlines in Broadcast mode.
• Prevent eSports players (except COD Caster) from switching to 3rd Person Spectate cam.
• Added ability to select players when mini-map is enlarged in eSports.
• Fixed FOV issue that occurred in Broadcast mode.
• Fixed functionality issue that occurred if both thumbsticks were pressed while spectating a mantling player.
• Fixed issue which kept eSports rules enabled after losing internet connection.
• Add notification when spectated player gets a kill in Broadcast mode.
• Fixed text overlap bug that occurred when mini-map was enlarged.
• Better team identification in the MLG hud.
• Fixed killfeed color bug that occurred for spectators.
• Prevent crashes when COD Caster changed teams quickly.
• Restrict Ghillie Suits when eSports rules enabled (replaces with different game models).
• Fixed a Broadcaster Mode bug where the preset camera indicator wasn’t getting reset between rounds.
• Add a kill feed to Broadcaster mode.
• Added team names to in-game scoreboard for Broadcast mode.
• Restrict Tracker Sights in eSports rules.
• Restrict Danger Close in eSports rules.
• Additional Broadcast mode fixes (better team identification in the HUD, simplified Scoreboard toggle, etc).
• Additional eSports fixes.

Whether or not Call of Duty: Ghosts is a quality game or not can be debated endlessly. The fact that it’s extremely popular cannot. It’s popular enough for the Major League Gaming’s attention at least. Call of Duty: Ghosts is currently the only FPS to be featured in the MLG, and is one of the most popular titles on the league’s eSports streaming service, MLG.TV. If it will be a lasting title or it will simply be replaced by this year’s Call of Duty installment remains to be seen.

For those of you less interested in eSports and more interested in purely fun carnage, the patch has goodies in store too. As Call of Duty: Ghosts is preparing for its first major DLC, Onslaught, Infinity Ward is including other notable changes in the update, most importantly changes to the Extinction mode and the return of the Gun Game multiplayer mode. For a full list of changes (which is quite comprehensive), check out the official Call of Duty: Ghosts update page.