Modern Warfare 2 devs respond to Ranked players getting kicked for inactivity

Nathan Warby
Modern Warfare 2 players in Ranked Play

The launch of Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play in Season 2 has been ruined for many by a bizarre issue where players are unfairly kicked for inactivity. Luckily, the devs have responded to the problem.

After an initial delay, Modern Warfare 2 Season 2 is here, delivering two new maps, a host of classic game modes, and much more.

One of the most-antipcated parts of the update was the long-awaited arrival of Ranked Play, giving the most dedicated players a competitive mode where they can climb through the ranks and earn unique rewards.

However, since the launch of Modern Warfare 2 Season 2, those enjoying Ranked Play have been running into an issue that sees them kicked for inactivity after unusually short times, leading to some frustrating encounters.

The issue was raised by Reddit user ‘christianwolff013,’ who claimed to have been kicked after around “30-45 seconds” while guarding the bomb on Search and Destroy. This caused them to be temporarily suspended from Ranked Play and lose Skill Rating.

Players are usually kicked for inactivity if they haven’t moved for a certain amount of time, but this is usually after a couple of minutes to ensure it doesn’t impact gameplay. But it seems that players are being booted from Ranked Play matches even when they’re camping to defend an objective.

Bizarrely, it also seems to be affecting players who aren’t just waiting in one location but are actually running around the map. Reddit user YoungCanadian87 shared a clip of a match on Embassy, where they were kicked for inactivity while sprinting and sliding.

Thankfully, thanks to Infinity Ward’s Trello board, we can see that Ranked Play devs Treyarch are aware of the issue and are working on a fix.

“We’re working with our partners to investigate the circumstances which might lead to a player being kicked for inactivity mid-match despite actively defending or roaming in the map,” said the Trello post.

For the time being, the issue is marked as “Investigating,” which suggests that it’s still unclear what is causing players to be kicked from Ranked Play matches prematurely.

This means players can rest assured that it shouldn’t be too long before they get to the bottom of the problem and issue a fix.

However, in the meantime, a Treyarch dev has responded on Reddit asking for gameplay footage to help their investigation. If you’re running into this issue, be sure to send clip of it their way.


For more on Modern Warfare 2, check out the best loadouts to run in Ranked Play, as well as how to complete the Path of the Ronin challenges.

Image credit: Activision

About The Author

Nathan is a Senior Writer at CharlieIntel. He’s an expert in EA Sports FC, Call of Duty, and Overwatch, as well as superhero games, including Marvel’s Spider-Man. With a master's degree in Magazine Journalism from Nottingham Trent University, he worked as a Trainee Reporter for Derbyshire Live before moving into games media, with bylines at Dexerto, Cultured Vultures, and more. You can contact Nathan by email at [email protected].