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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’s physical disc doesn’t actually include the game

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Call of Duty fans who bought a physical edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II are learning that the disc that comes with it doesn’t actually include the game. Instead, it’s a 72MB disc that enables a download of the full game.

According to a report from Eurogamer, fans received physical copies of Modern Warfare II a day before its official release and reported that the disc did not have the game at all. The digital version of the game has 150GB of data, which they had to download to their PlayStation 5 or Xbox consoles instead. The disc that Activision bundled into the box is essentially a download disc.

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The practice of shipping a game with a download disc is nothing new. For instance, physical copies of Halo Infinite shipped in a similar fashion. Gamers and professionals have criticized the practice in the past, deeming it a hindrance to game preservation efforts, as there’s no way to truly own certain titles. There are plenty of other reasons for players to want a game on an actual disc. Some buy physical versions of games to free up storage space on their consoles. Others may not have the internet bandwidth to download a giant digital game fast enough.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II launches on October 28 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Whether or not you buy a digital copy of the game or a physical one, be prepared to have to download over 100GB of data.

Cristina Alexander
Gaming/Mobile Writer
Cristina Alexander is a gaming and mobile writer at Digital Trends. She blends fair coverage of games industry topics that…
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