Infinity Ward may be taking steps to block one of the more commonly used methods of Xbox Live multiplayer cheating, according to a post on NeoGAF. It shows off a blurry screenshot (right), which reads: "This multiplayer session requires that you be in the game chat channel. If you don't switch, you can't play. Switch to the game chat channel now?" The implication, obviously, is that at least some of the multiplayer game types won't let you have private chats with your buddies. This is solidly in rumor territory for now, but it's a move that makes sense for the game.

It's bound to cause some complaints among those who just legitimately like talking to their friends, but the Party Chat feature has also been used by some savvy players to continue talking strategy when the game would mute them. A dead player, for example, could give away the location of the enemy that just killed him without waiting to respawn. Given how seriously people take the multiplayer aspect of Modern Warfare, it makes sense to level the playing field.