Modern Warfare 2 “Shaders Optimization stuck at 97%” error: How to fix, possible reasons, and more

Fixing the “Shaders Optimization stuck at 97%” error in Modern Warfare 2 (Image via Modern Warfare 2)
Fixing the “Shaders Optimization stuck at 97%” error in Modern Warfare 2 (Image via Infinity Ward)

The Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer has encountered a number of performance and gameplay optimization issues since the game's October 28 launch.

The latest franchise entry has been facing bugs and crashes, dampening the experience for many gamers. While not all the bugs are game-breaking, a few do not allow players to launch the game and queue up for a match.

One such problem is the “Shaders Optimization stuck at 97%” error, which, as the name suggests, will not let gamers play the Infinity Ward-developed title if the optimization percentage does not reach 100.

The optimization occurs when players launch the game, and the percentage done is represented in the top left-hand corner of their screen.

In many cases, the progression is stuck at 97%, which will not allow MW2 gamers to play any match. This is something that many in the community are experiencing, and players are attributing the cause to connectivity issues.

While there are no permanent fixes for it, there are a few temporary solutions that today’s guide will go over, which you can use to deal with the “Shaders Optimization stuck at 97%” error in Modern Warfare 2.


Fixing the “Shaders Optimization stuck at 97%” error in Modern Warfare 2

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To be able to deal with the “Shaders Optimization stuck at 97%” in Modern Warfare 2, there are a few things that you can do.


1) Restarting your internet router

As mentioned, many in the Call of Duty community attribute the error to connectivity issues, which do not allow the shaders to get optimized completely. A bad gateway can be the root cause of the problem, and the best thing you can do to fix it is to restart your internet router.

This will automatically change the gateway. Many in the community have stated that by doing this, they were able to deal with the stuck shader problem in Modern Warfare 2.


2) Checking the game servers

It’s possible that the issue is from the end of Activision, and the shooter’s servers might be down or under maintenance, leading to a problem with the stuck shader. Hence, players might want to check Activision’s official page to see if the Modern Warfare 2 servers are going through performance issues or not.

If the servers are indeed down, you will have no choice but to wait for the developers to make them live again before you can queue up for a game.

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3) Restart Shaders Optimization

If you were able to make it into the game client, but the Shader Optimization is not at 100%, then you can restart the process by making your way to the graphics settings of the shooter and scrolling down to find the “Restart Shaders Optimization” option.

Clicking on it will start a new shader cache, and the optimization loading will take place once again. This is more than likely going to fix the problem if you have it.


4) Restarting or re-installing the game

Restarting or re-installing Modern Warfare 2 seems to have fixed the shaders problem for many in the community. While the latter might seem like a rather drastic step, it could be one of the more viable solutions for the issue.

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