Windows Central Insider
When Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in 2022, there was rampant speculation of how Xbox's control of the popular first-person shooter franchise, Call of Duty, would affect the game's development.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 developer Infinity Ward's latest episode of the behind-the-scenes series, From the Ward, gives us one clue.
Studio audio director Stephen Miller shared details on Infinity Ward's use of Microsoft Triton — an immersive sound propagation project previously used for first-party Xbox titles Gears of War and Sea of Thieves — to produce a more realistic soundscape for Modern Warfare 4.
Microsoft's Triton audio tech takes the geometry of game maps to pre-bake in audio reverb, causing players to hear reliable audio reflections that are relative to their placement on the map.
With complex models consisting of the actual wave physics of sound propagation through complex 3D spaces, replacing expensive wave simulation tech with a more streamlined baking that precomputes on static visual 3D geometry to more accurately represent the way sound waves move in space. Where obstructions like a concrete wall would dampen and muffle speech in real life, so too will it affect hearing speech through a wall in Modern Warfare 4.
This technology affects all of the game's audio, from weapon fire to the sound of an exhausted magazine dropping to the floor on reload. But it doesn't just stop there; it also impacts proximity chat, giving players a new way to utilize audio for situational awareness during multiplayer matches.
Playing with your TV on too loud, with a chirping smoke detector in the background, or chatting it up on a hot mic just might be what gives you away in the heat of battle.
"Prox chat is now really in the world," says Miller, "In previous games, it was still this 2D sound that played in stereo like it was through a radio. Now the people are going to actually be in the environment. So that means affected by reverb, affected by occlusion, which is a building or wall that is in your way."
Project Triton isn't the only engine powering Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's audio, however. Infinity Ward has paired Triton with its own Convolution tech, which Miller states has been used to record over 200 impulse responses for Modern Warfare 4 alone — effectively creating a more immersive soundscape.
Infinity Ward's sound team has traveled to several locations to capture audio for every weapon in the game — both loud and suppressed — as well as audio for helicopters, tanks, bullet impacts, and even explosions. To capture as much sound as possible, stereo and mono microphones were strategically placed both on the weapons being recorded and up to 200 yards away.
"We are trying to create our own realism for the game," says Miller, "It is defining what is Modern Warfare by its sound signatures."
Following Treyarch's hyperfuturistic Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, the team behind Modern Warfare has pushed the game's more realistic boots-on-the-ground gameplay and style. From promising to forgo "clowny skins" to changes in movement and innovative multiplayer maps, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's dev team has been very vocal about the studio's desire to create a grittier experience.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is available to preorder now on Xbox, PC, PlayStation, and the Nintendo Switch 2, which grants access to the game's open beta ahead of the October 23 release date.
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