Shipped: Season 5 update, 2023
Contributors: Rulon Raymond, Rohit Ravishankar, Mehek Jethani Call of Duty: Warzone is demanding by design — 150-plus-player lobbies, cutting-edge graphics, and heavy power draw on the highest-end hardware. Infinity Ward used the XBOX Sustainability Toolkit to introduce an optional Eco Mode balancing responsiveness and fidelity against energy efficiency.
Eco Mode overview
The setting offers three options, with Minimal as the default:
Eco Mode applies only within front-end Multiplayer lobbies in Modern Warfare II and to all lobbies (including DMZ) in Warzone.
In-game changes
While the pause menu is opened during gameplay, the same settings apply:- Minimal — scene resolution to 66%, matching lobby behavior.
- Full — scene rendering freezes when the multiplayer pause menu is open in active gameplay. Systems like hit damage and audio continue.
Measured impact (Team Deathmatch private lobby, idle)
Graphical fidelity remained visually consistent across settings — art and design reviewed each tier before commit.
Player adoption (approx. two months after ship)
On console, 90% of players stayed on the default. Of the ~10% who opted out, roughly a quarter opted into Full for even more savings. PC players opted out more often, but the majority still remained in the default power-saving mode.
Platform-wide result
Global average power consumption for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II decreased by ~3% immediately after Eco Mode shipped, with no adverse effect on in-game performance.Tools used
- PIX Power Monitor — real-time measurement.
PIXGetPowerMetrics— sampled power values in code to drive the graphs above.
Takeaways for other studios
- Ship power-saving as the default. Adoption follows the default — 90% on console stayed on Minimal.
- Multiple tiers let players choose. Give power users a Full option and cautious players an Off option.
- Menus and lobbies are the easiest wins. Players spend meaningful time there and don’t notice resolution/framerate drops.