What happened
Late on October 27, the Call of Duty account posted a Metacritic score image showing high marks on Switch 2 (89), PS5 (88) and PC (87) — but the Xbox Series score was absent. Players noticed fast, especially since Microsoft owns Call of Duty. It turns out this wasn’t a deliberate snub: Metacritic simply couldn’t generate an average because only two outlets submitted reviews for the Xbox version, so no score showed up.
The omission lit up social feeds and forums. Meanwhile, the rest of the coverage is glowing: Modern Warfare 4 is currently the top-rated Call of Duty on Metacritic for the decade, and critics (including our review) have called it one of Infinity Ward’s best recent efforts.
Xbox response and why it matters
Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet says the company is already working on fixes to make pre-release Xbox builds easier to access for press and creators. He acknowledged the current process is cumbersome and said the team is building a smoother flow so people can redeem a code and actually play review copies. He didn’t drop full specifics, but promised the first changes are coming soon.
This isn’t just back-end paperwork — it affects how fast and fairly Xbox games get covered. Simpler review access should mean more timely reviews, more creator content, and fewer situations where a platform lacks an official score because of logistics rather than quality.
Short version: Modern Warfare 4 is getting rave reviews, but the Xbox version’s missing score exposed a distribution headache. If Microsoft follows through, future launches should be less drama and more gameplay.
