Why You Can‘t Unlock Items in Modern Warfare 2 (and How to Fix It)
If you are finding weapons, operators, blueprints, attachments, or other customization options locked in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (MW2), there are a few potential reasons why that might be happening:
You May Not Have Unlocked Them Yet
MW2 uses a layered progression system that gates many items behind your overall account rank as well as individual weapon ranks through the Gunsmith system.
Account Rank Requirements
As you level up your profile by earning XP, you will unlock new base weapons, perks, operators, and more at set intervals up to the max rank of 55. For example:
- TAQ-56 Assault Rifle: Unlocks at Rank 19
- Kastov-74u Assault Rifle: Unlocks at Rank 23
- Farah Operator: Unlocks at Rank 14
- Overkill Perk: Unlocks at Rank 37
If you‘ve ranked up your Profile level and an item is still locked, there may be another requirement…
Weapon Rank Requirements
The Gunsmith system has you level up each weapon individually to unlock its full suite of customization options.
- Early levels (1-20) unlock various attachments like scopes and magazines
- Mid levels (20-50) unlock components like stocks and barrels
- Max level (70) unlocks mastery camos like gold and platinum
So if you want extended mags for the M4 assault rifle, for example, you‘d need to actively use the M4 and rank it up to around level 12, even if the base M4 unlocks much earlier.
Battle Pass Unlocks
The MW2 and Warzone 2.0 Battle Pass also gates certain items like weapon blueprints and the BAS-P SMG behind progress tiers. Reaching those tiers earns instant unlocks outside the standard progression curve.
There Are Also Various Launch Bugs Blocking Unlocks
On top of meeting all the rank requirements described above, players have reported tons of bugs blocking unlocks since Modern Warfare 2‘s launch:
- Weapons remaining locked despite meeting rank requirements
- Camo challenges not progressing correctly after completion
- Overall account rank randomly resetting back to level 1
- Battle Pass content not unlocking properly
These seem tied to all kinds of connectivity problems and server stability issues in the early weeks after launch. Activision is releasing frequent patches attempting to squash the various bugs, but problems persist.
Potential Fixes and Workarounds
If you think you‘ve met all the prerequisites to unlock new items, here are a few things to try while developers work on a comprehensive bug fix:
- Fully quit and restart the Modern Warfare 2 application
- Check for any new game updates to download
- Try unlocking items in solo play modes rather than unpredictable online modes
- Grind an extra level or two past the unlock requirement to try forcing it
- Give it some time for game stability improvements
The connectivity issues seem worst in the online multiplayer environments right now. Solo and cooperative modes like Spec Ops tend to have slightly more success with tracking progression.
Hopefully Activision rolls out fixes ASAP – when everything is working properly, Modern Warfare 2‘s progression system allows for super satisfying unlock trees across ranks, weapons, operators, and cosmetic customization.
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