Call of Duty: Vanguard is very clearly built on the engine from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019, as this shows clearly through features like tactical sprint and mounting. However, it also comes with a few downsides, one of which is the lack of map voting in Call of Duty: Vanguard.
Prior to 2019’s reboot of the Modern Warfare subseries, map voting was an expected feature in each Call of Duty title. For those unfamiliar with the mechanic, it would see lobbies voting for a map while they wait for a match to begin. Not only did this give players something to do while they were waiting inside pre-game lobbies, but it also ensured that most gamers in the lobby could play on a map they enjoyed. This would lead to “bad” maps being played less often, with players able to always play on the better locations.
Considering that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War had map voting, even if some players were disappointed it lacked the Classified option, to some it feels like a step backwards to see it removed once again. After all, fans responded well to seeing the iconic feature return, so taking it out once again seems like a confusing decision. As such, Reddit user willfan8 made a thread asking for map voting to make a comeback. While the thread quickly received over 500 upvotes and many supportive comments, others made sense of why the feature was likely left out.
Reddit user bilowik pointed out that Call of Duty: Vanguard’s Combat Pacing feature could be the reason why map voting has been removed. Maps have different player counts even in the same Combat Pacing setting so that they play well regardless of their size. As such, if players are in a lobby of 16 people, voting for a map that requires two teams of 12 would be impossible. Players would need to wait for the lobby to fill up, which could be frustrating.
Considering how good of an addition Combat Pacing is to the overall experience, it was likely worth the removal of map voting. Being able to always play with a specific player count is a big deal, even if it occasionally means playing on an unpopular map like Numa Numa. With lobbies disbanding after every match too, there is no logical way to include map voting. As such, this request is unlikely to lead to anything, even if many players do miss the days of map voting.
With Call of Duty: Vanguard’s Secrets of the Pacific event temporarily shut down due to crash-related issues, Sledgehammer certainly has its hands full. As such, it could be a while before community suggestions for new features are taken into consideration.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
