No dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2 PC; Infinity Ward to run matchmaking service

If one believes the messages that some of the hardcore fans of the Call of Duty series have posted on message boards, this is a dark weekend for people who wanted to get the PC port on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. According to a pod cast on fan site BashandSlash.com, Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has confirmed that the PC version of their upcoming first person shooter won't have dedicated server support.Instead, Bowling said that Infinity Ward will be handling all the multiplayer servers for the game themselves under their own IW.net system for matchmaking and server support. He did say there will be private server support for players who wanted to create their own custom matches. IW.net will be run in conjunction with Steam which will include VAC anti-cheating support.Naturally the news of no dedicated server support has many hardcore fans of the previous games in an uproar, especially those folks who have set up dedicated servers for previous games in the series (and even charging money for hosting those servers) and won't be able to do so for Modern Warfare 2. Bowling admits this is a big change but says the reason for their moves is to give the average PC gamer a better experience playing the gam online. Bowling admitted that he did not know about the status for mod support for the PC version or if such mods could be hosted by the new IW.net.By the way, Bowling also stated that the PC version of the game is not delayed and is still scheduled for a November 10 release. A number of web sites posted up unconfirmed reports of a delay a couple of weeks ago but we choose not to report on those rumors since there was no real proof of a delay.