A Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 bug is spawning every player in the same spot, triggering a nonstop bloodbath

modern warfare 3
(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Call of Duty spawns are always a little wonky on launch day, but they're rarely as entertaining as this Modern Warfare 3 bug. Some console folk hopping into multiplayer early (presumably employing the good ol' New Zealand region switch trick) are getting swept up in a nonstop bullet barrage as the map Quarry will sometimes spawn every player in the lobby at the same spot.

The results are a sensory nightmare of constant gunfire, blood squibs, and killstreak chimes. Not even the deliberately claustrophobic layouts of Rust or Shipment can compare to the wrath of the Quarry corner. 

modernwarfareiii from r/ModernWarfareIII

The culprit for the Quarry bug seems to be a specific mode: Hardpoint. Players in the comments of Reddit user ImSippinTeaInYooHood's post say the game cycling to a specific hardpoint location will overlap team spawns in the familiar death corner, but it only lasts a few minutes until the next hardpoint appears.

Honestly, an expedited enemy delivery system doesn't sound so bad for XP grinding purposes. I don't want to spawn/die every three seconds for the entire match, but racking up a bunch of extra kills for a few minutes is worth the absurdity. Kill density is the whole reason the CoD community gloms onto micro arenas like Shipment, Rust, and Nuketown whenever they make an appearance in the series, so this one bug I know many players won't mind.

First experience with the new game. This happened twice in one game from r/ModernWarfareIII

But don't expect it to stick around long—spawn quirks are one of the first things to get fixed when a new CoD comes out, and lead studio Sledgehammer is probably preparing MW3's first hotfix as we speak.

So enjoy the Quarry Death Pit while it lasts, and if you don't, consider voting against the map in the pre-game lobby or avoiding Hardpoint until a fix comes in.

Morgan Park
Staff Writer

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.