CDL fans rejoice as MW3 devs “actively investigate” snaking

Ryan Lemay
An operator crouching in MW2.

CDL fans praised Sledgehammer Games for announcing its intentions to investigate snaking in MW3.

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.

Most of Repullze’s interview revolved around multiplayer, like the game’s prestige system. However, the devs did shed some light on what CDL fans and players can expect moving forward. First and foremost, we received confirmation that the devs will focus more on Hardpoint spawns once it’s decided what the competitive pool will be.

And in a surprising update, Sledgehammer Games provided some insight on one of the most controversial CDL issues over the past few years.

A screenshot from the game Modern Warfare 3

MW3 devs confirm snaking investigation

Snaking refers to players positioning themselves behind an object on a map and quickly switching between prone and crouching positions. The movement mechanic makes it hard for players to shoot at players behind cover, and pro players commonly took advantage of the mechanic in MW2.

This came at the expense of CDL fans, as some community members argued it ruined the viewing experience watching teams engage in snaking battles every round.

Sledgehammer Games Multiplayer Creative Director Greg Reisdorf empathized with players and discussed the MW3 movement mechanic with Repullze.

CDL Intel posted a clip from the stream and reported: “Sledgehammer devs have confirmed they are ‘actively investigating’ what can be done about snaking.”

Reisdorf claimed: “If you are snaking, you intentionally try to mess with the game and get that advantage. So when people see this from the other side and are actually trying to shoot that person, it’s not a great experience and looks kind of weird and funky.”

The MW3 developer explained, “We want you to be good at the game. If you can do it, go do it, but at the same time, there is always one player on the other side of it, and we want to make sure that’s a good experience for them, as well.”

Sledgehammer Games understands that snaking is part of the game and doesn’t discourage players from taking any advantage they can find, but a line needs to be drawn. “We want you to be good at the game. If you can do it, go do it, but at the same time, there is always one player on the other side of it, and we want to make sure that’s a good experience for them, as well.”

As for what can be done to resolve the issue, Reisdorf added: “It is about how often we let you do it. What is going to feel good and what is not going to feel good, and what can we actually do in that situation.”

It remains to be seen if the devs have any plans to make any concrete changes before the CDL season starts in December, but fans can at least feel comfortable knowing the MW3 devs are aware of the problem.

About The Author

Ryan is a former games writer for Dexerto. Ryan graduated from Ithaca College in 2021 with a sports media degree and a journalism minor. He gained experience as a writer for the Morning Times newspaper before joining Dexerto as a games writer. He mainly writes about first-person shooters, including Call of Duty and Battlefield, but he is also a big FIFA fan.