Trying to figure out what Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has to offer in terms of game types? We’ve got you covered! From the traditional TDM to new modes that players will be experiencing for the very first time, IW offers up a plethora of multiplayer modes.
Infinite Warfare Game Modes
The official list of game modes that are available in IW are listed below.
- Capture the Flag
- Defender
- Demolition
- Domination
- Drop Zone
- Free-for-All
- Frontline
- Grind
- Gun Game
- Hardpoint
- Infected
- Kill Confirmed
- Reinforce
- Search and Destroy
- Search and Rescue
- Team Deathmatch
- Uplink
NOTE: All modes may not be available at all times. This is a pretty lengthy list so we fully expect there to times when some aren’t available.
Capture the Flag
Good ol’ CTF. Players are separated into two teams and tasked with defending a flag at their own base while simultaneously attempting to retrieve the enemy flag to bring back to their homeplate. Points are scored whenever you or one of your teammates successfully secures the enemy flag and drags it into the designated area within your team’s base camp.
Primary Objective: Defend and Capture Flags
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Defender
Defender is a brand-new game mode exclusive to Infinite Warfare. If you’ve ever played Halo before, it may feel a bit familiar as it somewhat resembles Halo’s Oddball game type where players are tasked with securing an object (a drone in this case) and hold onto for as long as possible.
The goal here is to rack up as much time of possession with the drone as you can. Anyone on either team can find and secure the drone. But once you’re killed while in possession of it, it drops and is available for another player to retrieve.
Primary Objective: Hold Onto Drone
Demolition
Demolition is another classic mode that has now resurfaced in IW. This is essentially the same thing as Search and Destroy, but there are a few key differences. The biggest difference is that players can respawn rather than having just one life per round. Other differences include all players spawning with a bomb on-hand, there’s a limit of just 3 rounds, and more.
Primary Objective: Defend Team Bomb Sites, Plant Bomb on Enemy Sites
Domination
Domination is another popular game mode that makes a return in Infinite Warfare. In this mode, objective zones are scattered throughout the map. Your mission is to go with your team and capture these areas, then defend them from attacking enemies.
Points rack up faster whenever your team controls the majority of the capture zones on the map. There are usually 3 zones: A, B, and C. Two objectives are typically found at either end of the map where teams spawn while objective zone B is usually placed directly in the middle.
Primary Objective: Capture and Defend Objective Points
Drop Zone
Drop Zone is a mode that was first featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It now makes a return in Infinity Ward’s latest CoD installment, Infinite Warfare. It is pretty similar to Hardpoint in that players are split into two teams and tasked with securing a designated zone that moves around the map every couple of minutes.
The difference, however, is that in Drop Zone, whenever a team controls the zone for an extended period of time, care packages (which are called Drone Packages in IW) will drop onto the area where players can open them up to get killstreaks. The main goal is to control the Drop Zones for longer than the enemy team.
Primary Objective: Secure and Maintain Control of Designated Zones
Free-for-All
The name pretty much says it all. This is a deathmatch-style mode where every man is for himself. Track down and kill off any enemy that crosses your line of sight. The top three players of every match are awarded a “win” and shown off in the winner’s circle once the match is complete.
Primary Objective: Rack Up Kills
Frontline
Frontline is a brand new game mode. It is exactly the same as Team Deathmatch with one major change – players spawn at a designated team base and while within the base are granted armor that allows them to absorb more damage than normal.
We’re not entirely sure what Infinity Ward was thinking with this one, but it seems like it’s meant to discourage spawn trapping by giving players a better chance of surviving even if they are targeted immediately after spawn. It also forces players to spawn in their team base after every death.
Primary Objective: Get Kills
Grind
Grind is basically an odd combination of capture-the-flag and Kill Confirmed. In this mode players are put on two different teams and tasked with getting kills. Whenever you kill someone they will drop dog tags. Unlike in KC where you would normally just collect the tags to get points, you must not only grab the tags, but also take them to an objective zone for it to count. Grind was first introduced in Call of Duty: Ghosts.
Primary Objective: Get kills, collect tags, drop tags in designated zone.
Gun Game
Gun Game is one of the more unique and party-styled modes available. It has made appearances in previous titles such as Black Ops 2 and Modern Warfare 3. It is a free-for-all match where players progress through a set lineup of IW weapons as they earn kills with each gun.
Here’s a video from popular Call of Duty YouTuber, Ali-A, playing gun game:
The first player that gets a kill with every single weapon in the lineup wins the match.
Primary Objective: Get a Kill with Every Weapon
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Hardpoint
Hardpoint was first introduced to Call of Duty players in Black Ops 2. It is best defined as a “king of the hill” style mode where a specific area (called the hardpoint) is identified on the map and players from both teams vie for control over it.
Once your team secures the hardpoint you must defend it from opposing forces. The hardpoint changes location every so often, forcing players to move to a new area of the map to secure the objective zone. Points are awarded for holding the designated zone, killing attackers, or defending the area.
Primary Objective: Maintain Control of the Hardpoint Zone
Infected
Infected is a party game mode loosely based on zombies-style custom matches that players loved. It was originally put into official online matchmaking on MW3. At the start, all players but one are assigned to a “survivor” role and given a simple weapon set (typically a pistol and a shotgun) and a few tacticals. The one other player is the “infected” individual.
Getting killed by the “infected” player causes you to switch teams and also become infected. The primary goal here is to survive as long as possible without being killed by infected players. This is usually accomplished by hiding in obscure spots or working with other survivors to hold down an area, killing the infected as they approach.
Primary Objective: Stay Alive (survivors), Hunt and Kill Survivors (infected)
Kill Confirmed
Kill Confirmed is TDM with a twist. While just getting kills still nets you points, in order to win the match you’ll also have to collect dog tags that are dropped by the foes you or your teammates kill. Doing so gives you more points and contributes to your team’s overall score in the match. Use your scorestreaks to wipe out multiple enemies at once, giving your teammates an opportunity to swoop in and grab a load of tags in one go.
Primary Objective: Get Kills and Collect Tags
Reinforce
Reinforce is a nifty mode that we first saw in Ghosts. In it there are 3 flags on the map. The main goal is for your team to secure all three. Doing so results in a win. Respawns are possible after death, but only when your teammates manage to capture a new flag.
It is possible to lose immediately if you and all of your teammates die around the same time. This makes the mode similar to domination with a hint of elements from search and destroy as well.
Primary Objective: Capture Flags
Search and Destroy
SnD is a very popular game mode among competitive players. In this mode players are separated into two teams – attackers or defenders. The attackers can win either by killing all defenders or by successfully planting and detonating bombs at one of the two designated bomb sites.
Defenders, on the other hand, are able to win by either eliminating all players on the attacking team or successfully stopping them from planting and detonating a bomb. There are no respawns and the game is usually set where a team wins when they win four out of seven rounds.
This mode is also popular among power-levelers due to the fact that the XP gains in SnD are significantly higher than in other game modes.
Primary Objective: Detonate Bombs or Kill Enemy Team (attackers), Stop Attackers from Detonating Bombs (defenders)
Search and Rescue
Another mode that Infinity Ward first threw into Ghosts, Search and Rescue is also available in Infinite Warfare. In this game mode players are assigned to one of two teams. Both teams battle it out and attempt to destroy a designated objective.
Players that are killed during the match are able to respawn, but only if their teammates collect the dog tags they drop once they are eliminated by an enemy soldier. It’s an interesting blend of SnD and Kill Confirmed.
Primary Objective: Destroy Objective, Revive Teammates by Collecting Tags
Team Deathmatch
This is the classic mode that the vast majority of Call of Duty fans flock to on every installment of the series. It is, quite literally, just a kill or be killed mode where the only thing that really matters is eliminating players on the opposite team.
Read through our Infinite Warfare tips and tricks to learn how to get even more kills which will lead to more match wins in this particular mode.
Primary Objective: Get Kills
Uplink
Uplink is a unique mode that was initially made available in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. It is now also available for play in Infinite Warfare. In this gametype a satellite drone is placed in the middle of the map. Players from either team are able to grab it.
The goal is to take the drone to the enemy base and toss it into an objective. Doing so results in a score being added to your team. Teams switch sides once one team manages to reach a total of 10 points. The game concludes whenever one team gets 20 points.
Primary Objective: Throw the Drone in the Objective
