The multiplayer experiences ofCall of Dutyhave always been a massively successful element of the longstanding franchise, with its annual releases always aiming to shake up this formula in one way or another. While a lot of interesting new mechanics and modes are added to the IP’s multiplayer all the time, there are a lot of older defining features that have sadly been phased out over the years.
One of the biggest losses thatCall of Dutyhas faced in more recent multiplayer iterations is the absence of emblem customization. The emblem editor systems of pastCoDs gave an untold amount of freedom to players to create hilarious or intensely detailed artworks, yet these older systems were also abused to spread offensive and hateful imagery. Automated moderation and detection services have developed significantly sinceCall of Dutylast featured custom emblems, and the franchise’s Ricochet system could be the key to re-introducing custom emblems while catching and stopping abuse of the system.
Ricochet Could Bring Back One of Call of Duty’s Best Features
Treyarch first introduced the concept of an emblem editor mechanic in 2010’sBlack Ops, revolutionizing how players could customize and add flair to their multiplayer playercards. The emblem editor gave players complete creative control over what artwork they could create, using a huge range of shapes, logos, and lettering, with the final product then being immortalized as an emblem which could even be showcased on a player’s in-game weapon.
These emblems could be created using close to 500 different assets, with players quickly trying to one-up each other in creating the most detailed and eye-catching emblems. The emblem editor was such a popular concept that it would go on to becomea staple ofCall of Dutyfor some time, appearing in the following titles over the years:
Sadly, the creative freedom of the emblem editor also gave way to intense amounts of offensive and hateful imagery created by players, withCall of Dutycompletely abandoning the feature since 2016 to return to the pre-designedemblem system of earlier titles likeModern Warfare. While it always seemed inevitable that the concept of custom emblems would be short-lived, the franchise may finally be in a position where its automatic moderation and detection systems could see custom emblems return with a much lower risk of being abused.
Call of Duty’s Emblem Editor Could Be Stronger Than Ever in a Future Title
Call of Dutyannounced its Ricochet anti-cheat system in 2021, and has been developing and fine-tuning the system ever since. Ricochet was made all the more important thanks to the launch of theWarzoneseries and the influx of cheaters that it brought about, with Ricochet being used extensively to keep gameplay as fair as possible across all ofCall of Duty’s multiplayer experiences.
CoDhas been increasingly automating Ricochet and moderation in general, recently introducing anautomatic in-game voice chat monitorthat can flag up hateful language. This automation could be extended to any future iterations of the emblem editor, perhaps being tweaked to a stage where it can automatically detect hateful or problematic imagery that players might create. It is a shame that such a creative element ofCall of Duty’s past was ruined by abuse. Hopefully, a more robust Ricochet system leads to emblem editing returning better than ever in the near future.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
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The war has changed. Call of Duty returns with an all-new campaign, modernized versions of classic Multiplayer maps and an open-world PvE Zombies experience. The campaign, a direct sequel to the record-breaking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, sees Captain Price and Task Force 141 face off against ultranationalist war criminal Vladimir Makarov as he extends his grasp across the world. In Multiplayer, the 16 maps that launched with Modern Warfare 2 in 2009 return with upgraded graphics, new modes and innovative gameplay features. In Modern Warfare Zombies, team up with other squads for the first time ever as you work together to survive in the largest Zombies map yet
