Major Gunsmith changes coming to Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2

Jacob Hale
MW2 NVG

The Gunsmith was introduced to Call of Duty in Modern Warfare 2019, offering players more flexibility over their weapon loadouts in multiplayer and the battle royale hit Warzone, released a few months later. Now, it’s getting a big overhaul for Modern Warfare 2.

The upcoming Call of Duty game, which is due to release on October 28, will reign in the next generation of CoD.

It will be the first game in the franchise to have a two-year life cycle, rather than just one year, and introduce a number of new features to the series.

With the popularity of MW2019, and in particular the gunplay and Gunsmith customization options, it’s a big move for developers Infinity Ward to change it up — but they’re looking to create a far more refined system for Modern Warfare 2.

modern warfare 2 logo
Modern Warfare 2 is bringing some significant changes to the franchise.

In Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward wants to give players the “most meaningful customization they could use on their weapons,” with more options and a broader range of functionality among attachments.

These changes come in the form of two major new features: Platforms and Attachment Tuning.

Here’s how they work.

Modern Warfare 2 weapon Platforms

FR 5.56 loadoutThe Modern Warfare gunsmith has proved insanely popular.

Platform is a new feature that allows players to unlock new weapons as derivatives of a base gun.

Infinity Ward explained it as follows: “You start playing with the initial version of the gun, which might be an assault rifle, an SMG, then you’re unlocking further down the tree, like a family tree of guns, from that one gun. You’re unlocking the next guns that live within that Platform. All these guns have both the unique attachments and a shared pool amongst them.”

Essentially, as you play and level up guns, you’re building an arsenal of weapons, allowing you to blur the lines between an SMG and an Assault Rifle, for example.

Attachment Tuning

Mw2 nightwar character holding gun
Will these mean a more elaborate meta in MW2?

Attachment Tuning is another new feature coming to the Gunsmith, described as a “game within a game.”

Once you’ve ranked up a gun, you can start fine-tuning each individual attachment, trading off positives and negatives as you tune them.

It’s important to note, though, that Infinity Ward have highlighted how important it is that you can’t just max out weapons or attachments to be overpowered: every buff comes with a nerf, so to speak.

There are around 5 ‘ticks’ of tuning available on each attachment, but what exactly these ticks look like right now is unclear.

The Gunsmith denoted a huge change in Call of Duty when it was introduced, and with this development, it will be interesting to see how the Gunsmith looks in Modern Warfare 2, and how much you can customize your loadouts.


For more Modern Warfare 2 exclusive stories, check these out:

MW2 world reveal trailer | EMP gets rework in MW2 | Lethal AI bots coming to Warzone & MW2 | Campaign details revealed | Water rework for MW2 & Warzone maps | New Multiplayer default classes | Major Gunsmith changes | 5 Multiplayer maps confirmed | New MW2 equipment | How to pre-order Modern Warfare 2 | Anti-cheat for MW2 

About The Author

Jacob is Dexerto’s UK Editor and Call of Duty esports specialist. With a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing, he previously worked as an Editor at Ginx TV. Jacob was nominated for Journalist of the Year at the 2023 Esports Awards. Contact: jacob.hale@dexerto.com.