MW3 Experimental Playlist features and game modes, explained

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) rolled out plenty of new and returning multiplayer game modes after its Nov. 10 release. The Experimental Playlist has gained significant interest from potential players, but you might want to know more about the playlist before jumping in.

So here’s everything you need to know about the Experimental Playlist in MW3.

What is Experimental Playlist in MW3?

The Experimental Playlist is a testing ground for new features and gameplay adjustments with the goal being that Sledgehammer Games can acquire player feedback. This playlist includes all of the usual maps for six-vs-six games, though there are noticeable differences to the actual game modes.

Below is everything we know to be different in the Experimental Playlist.

MW3 Experimental Playlist differences

The Experimental Playlist provides a slightly different multiplayer experience from the usual game modes. The first version of this new testing ground pertains to player visibility; you will now be able to see faint outlines around opponents and allies.

Player visibility on maps is a common issue as enemies can blend into the background, making them much more difficult to find and shoot. The Experimental Playlist attempts to combat this by giving all allies a subtle blue outline and all enemy players a faint red outline. This, in theory, should help distinguish allies from enemies better and make opposing players stand out against the background environment more.

This change currently only exists in the Experimental Playlist and it is unclear if this visibility difference will ever make it into the main multiplayer game mode. Sledgehammer promises to regularly survey players who engage in the testing game mode to see if this change would better public multiplayer.

Though visibility is currently the only difference between the Experimental Playlist and public matchmaking, we can only assume more experiments will come to the game mode with time. If you are looking to change up your multiplayer experience even slightly, then I recommend testing out the Experimental Playlist.