Infinity Ward removes, then brings back bounties in 'Call of Duty: Warzone'

Following backlash from some of its most prominent players, Call of Duty: Warzone developer Infinity Ward has reversed a controversial tweak it made earlier this week to its popular battle royale game. On Wednesday, the studio added a system called Most Wanted contracts to the first-person shooter. By picking one up, a player would reveal their location to every other team in the match. If they could subsequently survive for five minutes, Warzone rewarded the player with in-game cash and the redeployment of their teammates.

The primary issue fans had with the new feature is that it replaced bounties, one of Warzone's more popular mechanics. Worse yet, Infinity Ward made the change without telling players it planned to remove them from the game. Bounties, like most wanted contracts, are bonus objectives that you can pick up during a match. The important difference is that they mark only one opponent on your map. Successfully hunt them down, and you'll earn bonus cash with which to purchase tools like additional armor and weapons. Conversely, if your target can outlive a bounty timer, they'll get a reward.

People liked bounties because they encouraged players to play aggressively and move around the map, instead of camping up in one place. In the short time that they were in the game, most wanted contracts didn't get a lot of play because people felt it was too risky to pick one up. After streamers like Ninja tweeted about the change, Infinity Ward released a surprise playlist update on Thursday that removed most wanted contracts and added bounties back into Warzone. This isn't the first time the studio has quickly responded to community feedback. At the start of the month, the developer promptly brought back three-person teams. Given that games like Warzone live and die by their communities, it's a smart approach.