Warzone 2's terrible server performance explained by TacticalBrit

Call of Duty: Warzone 2 players frequently complain about two aspects of the game: cheaters and server issues. A recent video by the Call of Duty content creator TheTacticalBrit discussed the state of the game's servers and explained that they were technically inferior to the competition. The video highlighted several reasons for the frequent disconnects, desyncs, lags, and other server-related problems.

Warzone 2 is a fast-paced battle royale game with many players joining the server simultaneously to fight for victory. The introduction of AI combatants has raised the computing demands for these servers significantly compared to the previous game, Warzone 1 (now known as Warzone Caldera).

As a result, players often encounter connection issues that take away from the Warzone experience. This article delves deeper into TheTacticalBrit's analyses of the factors contributing to the poor network performance in the game.

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TheTacticalBrit goes in-depth about server problems in Warzone 2

In the video, TheTacticalBrit highlights two key factors that affect the gameplay experience - server latency and server refresh rate. He explains that in a first-person shooter game like Warzone 2, the accuracy of information between the client (the player) and the server is critical. The server latency and refresh rate dictate how quickly information is exchanged between the two, leading to a smoother gameplay experience.

One of the major problems the Call of Duty content creator found was that his latency on Warzone 2's servers was significantly higher compared to other games. Upon further investigation, he found that the servers were simply overstressed. He mentioned that due to the updates and the addition of AI soldiers, the total number of variables the server has to handle has increased significantly, leading to network performance issues.

To test this hypothesis, he tried game modes where there were fewer players or no AI combatants and instantly noticed low ping. This held true even in instances where there were fewer players alive at once, such as in the end game. Thus, he came to the conclusion that the servers were overloaded, as they lack the capacity to handle the actual demands placed on them.

Chart showing the server tick rates (Image via BattleNonSense/YouTube)

Next, he mentioned the refresh rate (tick rate). Although Call of Duty generally comes with 60Hz servers, in practice, it only averages at around 20Hz in Warzone 2. In comparison, games like Valorant have 128 tick rate servers, meaning the servers refresh 128 times per second to gain new information.

As a result of the lower tick rate, players frequently encounter issues such as desyncing and super bullets in Warzone 2.

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These are the primary problems with the game's servers. The only way to address them is for the developers to upgrade their servers with higher capacities to handle the load and a higher tick rate. Doing so will eliminate a lot of network issues from the game and ensure a fair and competitive experience.

Season 2 Reloaded of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 is currently available on PC (via Battle.net and Steam), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5.