Summary
- Xbox Series X and S owners can now download a dynamic background for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, adding subtle motion to the game's cover art.
- The addition of this background comes amid frustration from Modern Warfare 3 players due to the confusing rollout of Call of Duty HQ and a mandatory full-screen ad for the game on Xbox consoles.
- Xbox has been releasing new dynamic backgrounds, including ones for third-party games like the Dead Space remake and first-party titles like Forza Motorsport, showing an increased focus on incorporating backgrounds for major releases.
Xbox Series X and S owners will be able to apply a new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 dynamic background in preparation for the game's imminent November 10 launch. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's early access campaign launch, which began on November 2, has been causing a sort of uproar as many players are frustrated with its confusing Call of Duty HQ rollout. Add to that a mandatory full-screen ad for the game which appeared on all Xbox consoles, and sentiment surrounding Modern Warfare 3's launch has been less-than favorable so far.
In the first few years since the launch of Xbox Series X and S in 2020, new dynamic motion-based backgrounds were seldom added for owners to use. 2021 saw only three new backgrounds added based on games, with two of them for Halo Infinite; none for Xbox's hit arcade racer Forza Horizon 5 or Double Fine's long-awaited gem Psychonauts 2, which both launched that same year. That said, Xbox has been on a roll with new backgrounds in 2023, finally incorporating backgrounds for major new third-party games like the Dead Space remake, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Diablo 4, alongside a slew of new backgrounds for its big first-party titles such as Hi-Fi Rush, Starfield, Forza Motorsport, and more.
Now, Xbox has added its 13th new motion-based background of the year. On Twitter, Klobrille pointed to the latest dynamic background that's become available on Xbox Series X and S; that of the imminent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The background essentially takes the cover of Modern Warfare 3, which features franchise icon Captain Price holding a rifle, and adds some subtle motion to the floating debris near the bottom of the screen.
It would be fair to criticize some of these more recent Xbox backgrounds for not containing enough moving elements. The Forza Motorsport and Starfield backgrounds feature very little motion at all, and Modern Warfare 3's attempt finds itself in a similar boat. Many of them simply consist of the game's cover art with a few small moving pieces added on top. Modern Warfare 3's dynamic Xbox background does look very similar to Diablo 4's, which displays Lilith in front of a very similar red and black background. It's likely that Modern Warfare 3's background was going to happen regardless of Microsoft's recently closed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, considering the Diablo 4 background released alongside the game back in June.
Should Xbox Owners Expect Even More Dynamic Backgrounds In The Future?
With Xbox finally hitting its stride this year in regard to releasing a sufficient amount of new motion-based backgrounds for many of 2023's major game releases, it wouldn't be unwise to expect Xbox to continue at this frequency in 2024. Big games like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and confirmed first-party releases like Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 and Avowed, would all make excellent candidates to receive dynamic backgrounds on Xbox next year.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 58 /100 Critics Rec: 14%
- Released
- November 10, 2023
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Sledgehammer Games
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Engine
- iw 9.0
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
