MW3 players slam decision to not bring back traditional prestige system

Ryan Lemay
MW3 gunplay

MW3 community members slammed the decision to once again use a Seasonal Prestige System instead of a more traditional format.

Sledgehammer Games Multiplayer Creative Director Greg Reisdorf and Senior Development Director Adam Iscove sat down with COD content creator Repullze to discuss the launch of MW3 and changes players can expect in the future.

At the forefront of questions is what the game’s prestige system will look like. Currently, you can only reach level 55 in the game, and players questioned why MW3 didn’t launch with any prestige levels.

Community members held out hope that their wait would be worth it, and that the devs would add back a traditional prestige system. However, during the live stream with Repullze, Reisdorf, and Iscove disappointed a segment of the player base with their announcement.

MW3 brings back seasonal prestige system

On November 17, CharlieIntel confirmed: “Modern Warfare 3 will have the same Seasonal Prestige System as Modern Warfare II Prestiges.”

During the Repullze livestream, Reisdorf claimed that the dev team looked into things but did not change direction. The Seasonal Prestige System begins in MW3 Season 1.

The Seasonal Prestige System, introduced in MW2, made it so each Season introduced a new level cap. Prestige 1 was Rank 56, Prestige 2 was 100, and so on. In Season 1 players could level up to rank 250 which is Prestige 5, and each Prestige Level awarded a new Emblem.

Each following Season raised the level cap and added new Prestige levels. In comparison, Prestige Mode made it so that when players reached level 55, they could enter Prestige Mode, and trade in all of their unlocks for a new rank logo and an additional custom class slot.

From there, players would restart the multiplayer unlock process and repeat it every 55 levels. Players praised the system for giving players something refreshing to grind toward. But MW3 community members don’t share that same level of attachment to the Seasonal Prestige System.

One player responded: “No, ill never understand why they don’t bring back OG Prestige. This makes levelling feel pointless after 55.”

A second user added: “I’ll never understand not having a prestige system in COD. If people don’t want to prestige they don’t have to lol. Being stuck at a level for a whole season with no workaround is lame as hell.”

And to really hammer the point home, a third community member argued: “Another prime example of how out of touch CoD is as a whole with the community.”

It remains to be seen what the level cap will be when MW3 Season 1 goes live, but players now know that the Seasonal Prestige System is here to stay.