How to fix screen flickering in MW2
If you're playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and running into screen flickering, check out how to fix this persistent issue.
Every single second matters in a match of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and the slightest distraction could possibly mean death, however, there seems to be one particularly nasty issue that is proving to be more than just a nuance for many players.
Many players are reporting issues of consistent screen flickering, which can quickly become incredibly annoying, and even potentially dangerous to those who suffer from epilepsy or any other related issues. We have a few tried and tested fixes for you to try though.
How to fix MW2 screen flickering
The screen flickering issue primarily appears to be affecting PC players. Of course, this could be down to a multitude of issues, so we’ve listed every known fix for screen flickering that has been discovered so far below:
Update or downgrade your graphics driver
Firstly, we strongly recommend checking out your graphics driver. If you don’t have the latest version, you should visit your manufacturer’s website and get the latest update. However, from our own personal tests, we’ve also discovered that this also works by degrading your graphics driver.
If you have the latest version and are still encountering screen flickering then rolling back to a previous version has proven to work in our case. It may take a bit of fiddling around between testing out different updates, but hopefully, it garners a solution.
Beenox, the developers of the PC port have also confirmed there are some stability issues relating to certain drivers.
- If you want a fairer competition, we also have a guide on how to turn off crossplay in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Enable V-Sync
Your other solution could be simply enabling V-Sync in the game’s options. Once you’ve booted up the game, open up your settings, and under video settings, you should see an option to turn on V-Sync. Ensure this is ticked and reboot the game, as it should now perform at a more stable refresh rate.
Also, ensure V-Sync is enabled at a hardware level too. Depending on your monitor, you will have a different method on how to do this. Simply visit the manufacturer’s site for more details on how to enable V-Sync on your system.
Fixing screen flickering for console players
In the case of PlayStation and Xbox users, the issue could be stemming from MW2's frame rate. Depending on what model TV you have, the game can support either 60hz or 120hz. If you’re running into screen flickering, enter the game’s options and change the in-game frame rate from one to the other. Hopefully, this should rectify the screen flickering for you.
If you happen to still run into screen flickering issues after these workarounds, we recommend waiting for a patch or updated driver. Additionally, you could also reach out to Activision Support, who may have a more definitive answer for you.
- If you're having audio issues, we also have a guide on how to fix voice service unavailable in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
About The Author
Daniel Hollis
Daniel is a former Guides Writer for GGRecon. Having originally focused on film journalism, he eventually made the jump to writing about games in 2020, writing for sites such as NME. Eurogamer, GamesRadar, Tech Radar, and more. After a short stint in PR, he is back in the world of games media writing about his favourite games, including Bioshock, Fable, or everything Fortnite and Xbox Game Pass related.
