Closing Modern Warfare 2 PS3 servers a “viable solution”

From day one, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops has been plagued with technical problems, most notably with the online component. Owners of the PS3 and PC versions of the game have been vocal in their complaints that when playing online the game is unstable, laggy, and bug ridden. Numerous patches have helped improve the situation, but not for everyone, and many gamers (myself included) have given up on Codblops altogether and moved on to Bad Company 2, or even back to Modern Warfare 2.

To make matters worse, notorious Hacker George “GeoHot” Hotz recently released a security key for the console which bypasses many of its security features. GeoHot claims he only intended to unlock the console for the purposes of installing Linux, and user created applications. Of course, there is a far more nefarious side to the story, and you can read more about how hackers are using GeoHot’s creation to run pirated games here.

The hack has also opened the console up to security exploits pertaining to specific games, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 reportedly being hit worst.

Infinity Ward spokesperson Robert Bowling had the following to say:

“Modern Warfare 2 is no exception to this security exploit and we understand that some of you have experienced problems with stats and other issues associated with this,” he writes. “Games rely on the security of the encryption on the platforms they’re played on, therefore; updates to the game through patches will not resolve this problem, unless the security exploit itself is resolved on the platform. Regretfully, Call of Duty games are receiving the bulk of the hacker’s attention, due to its high player counts and popularity. However, the number of legitimate players severely outweighs the bad apples.”

Bowling suggests that gamers consider sticking to custom games with their trusted friends until the problem is resolved. Hackers on the other hand, claim that it is impossible for Sony to identify and punish exploiters.

Adding fuel to the flames, senior tester/senior support representative at Activision Dov Carson posted the following response to a complaint:

“Well I have nothing else to offer and I too follow forums and have many friends who play and enjoy the game for all of its features. As an avid gamer, I would also disagree with any legalities involving a single aspect of a game as online experience may change at any time. The publishers have the right to shut down the servers for their game at any time as well which based on the number of reported posts from users may be a viable solution over the free PSN.

These are the options that we are able to offer to you as a one time courtesy.

Let us know how you would like to proceed.”

Could Activision or Sony really shut down Modern Warfare 2 servers? And would the same solution apply to other online games?

Share your views in the forums.