COD4 Variety pack free for PC

By Robert Purchese Published 6 June, 2008

Thanks for waiting two months.

The Variety Map Pack for Call of Duty 4 is finally available on PC.

It arrives two months after the Xbox 360 bundle, but is being offered for free as a result of a sponsorship deal with graphics card specialist NVIDIA.

Of the pack, both Creek and Chinatown are the highlights; arenas we could see ourselves heading back to again and again with a fresh masterplan. Joining them are Killhouse and Broadcast, which are by no means bad, but meant the score settled on 7/10 when we took a look at them.

Alongside the PC map pack will be patch 1.6, which fixes a server crash exploit and numerous bugs as well as adds a flurry of additional bits and bobs.

Call of Duty 4 recently passed the 10 million sales mark across all platforms around the world. The Xbox 360 version was apparently most popular and has recently reclaimed its crown as the most played game on Live.

To celebrate, Infinity Ward is holding a double experience weekend on both PS3 and 360 this weekend, starting today and ending on Monday.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • DFawkes #1 4 years ago

    Awesome - free maps for PC, more point for me :) That's win win.

  • Laika #2 4 years ago

    PC FPSs always win for maps. TF2 would be intolerable if you were stuck on 2fort and Dustbowl the whole time.

  • BadBoyBonner #3 4 years ago

    It arrives two months after the Xbox 360 bundle, but is being offered for free as a result of a sponsorship deal with graphics card specialist NVIDIA.

    Didn't know EG were doing Nvidia's PR on the side. Are you honestly expecting me to believe that without Nvidia the maps would have been chargeable on the PC? Pull the other one.

  • timberwolf #4 4 years ago

    yeah you get it free... noone else does... yes i'm bitter.

  • coojam #5 4 years ago

    What's an experience weekend?

  • ps3owner #6 4 years ago

    experience weekend = double points, that's it.

    consoles really are a fucking rip off.

  • ruttyboy #7 4 years ago

    Not my experience at all vercetti, I'd estimate that the new maps occur every two games, very rare to get two of the old maps in a row now.

  • Malazan #8 4 years ago

    The maps should be free on 360 as well. No way am I paying £6 for maps.

  • ScottyXTUK #9 4 years ago

    Just shows how much 360 users in particular get ripped off. £6 for a pack of maps? That's daylight robbery. Add in the fact that you also have to pay for Xbox live and you see how greedy Microsoft are. They just can't resist charging for anything. I mean 150 points for a picture pack, for god's sake haven't they got an ounce of genorosity in them?

    If the PC maps are free due to "sponsorship" then why can't other Xbox live stuff be sponsored and given out free? I hate Microsoft, not because it's what people like to do but because they are so damn greedy, not content with monopolising us with Windows and the countless billions that earns them they need to charge for Xbox live and virtually anything that is downloadable from the marketplace.

    Still if idiots in their droves pay good money to do that then they are just as much at fault - STOP BUYING STUFF OFF XBOX LIVE!!!

    Who knows if people did that Microsoft might feel the need to give some stuff away for free - god forbid.
    Edited by 1 at 06/06/08 @ 12:54

  • Shyvah #10 4 years ago

    Don't want to pay? Then don't. It is your choice.

    And for the record, there have been sponsored items on Marketplace.

  • Baronen #11 4 years ago

    Nothing entertains me more than the outcry of poor nerds every time Microsoft charges for something, I must say. I bought these maps for 360 and I've had loads of fun with 'em, worth every penny imo, and I would again. Thank God I'm not poor so spending £6 on a map pack doesn't really effect me economically.

    I'd also like to add that sponsorship deals like this have happened on consoles as well, such as Discovery Channel sponsoring one of the Gears of War mappacks.

  • Feanor #12 4 years ago

    Steam are taking way too long to get this patch out on their version of CoD 4.

  • ScottyXTUK #13 4 years ago

    lol nerds?

    You're a nerd mate if you pay £6 for a map pack that should be free - 99% of PC downloadable stuff is free so there's no reason Xbox live stuff shouldn't be too. It's not even about not being able to afford it - I can and I'm quite wealthy thankyou. The fact of the matter is it's the principle, why do they charge anyway? Also if that's what entertains you the most then maybe you need to get out more - sounds like you are indeed the nerd that you harp on about.

    What makes me laugh is how people seem to think it's ok to pay for addons and defend Microsh!t for charging for it, then blab on about they can afford it. If you go through life paying over the top, inflated prices for things then you won't get very far. Fact is, you have bought the game already (already paid an inflated price - PC version is cheaper also), you have paid to use Xbox live, so why the hell should you pay again?

    You do the maths but I'll be the one better off financially not you.
    Edited by 3 at 06/06/08 @ 14:40

  • monkie_king #14 4 years ago

    But £6 is nothing, and it's well worth it for Creek alone.

    I'm guessing PC owners can't afford it as they have to spend all their money upgrading their graphics cards every 6 months :-P

  • Katsumoto #15 4 years ago

    Sigh.

  • ScottyXTUK #16 4 years ago

    As already said - it's not about the money - I own a top of the range PC, 360, PS3 and A Wii so money isn't an issue - it's the principle. You cannot defend the PC version being free whilst 360 owners have to fork out £6.

    Yes £6 isn't a lot but you keep getting charged for stuff and soon it all mounts up. I refuse to pay, that's my stand on it, if you lot want to then more fool you, Microsh!t will just keep charging you for virtually everything. They've got you wrapped around their little finger.

  • monkie_king #17 4 years ago

    /facepalm

  • ScottyXTUK #18 4 years ago

    At least do people the service of speaking in plain english and not nerdy IRC crap. What do you mean, do you agree, disagree or have you nothing to say? In which case please refrain from one word and vague statements.

  • YourMessageHere #19 4 years ago

    What exactly are Nvidia sponsoring, though? Leaving aside the fact that thousands and thousands of maps created by gamers for PC games are made and distributed for free and have been ever since Doom came out, the maps are already paid for many times over by XBL (+PSN?) takings. Taking the maps from one version and putting them in another can hardly be a major chore, unless they seriously expect us to believe they made all the maps from scratch on every platform independently. Patches are always free anyway, and bandwidth? Please. There's nothing to sponsor, and this is what everyone should expect, not some kind of favour from our benevolent overlords at IW.

  • martlev #20 4 years ago

    360 owners can effectively get the maps free, the game of the year edition contains them and at some retailers is the same price as the vanilla version.
    *Before you shout at me I know this doesn't help people who own the game already*
    Edited by 1 at 06/06/08 @ 16:45

  • Malazan #21 4 years ago

    Whoa! I didn't mean to start a flamewar! I personally don't want to spend £6 on some maps (I'd rather put that money towards another game or maybe some petrol) but I have zero issues with anyone who does want to do so.

  • sneetch #22 4 years ago

    @Digital~Orgasm

    While I agree that these maps should be free on the 360 (I think there's far too many companies charging for stuff that would be free on PC) it's not Microsoft charging for it; it's Infinity Ward or Activision or both. They could have made it available free if they want; there are free map packs available on Live for - at the least - Army of Two, Gears of War and Halo 3. There are probably more.

  • Gurrah #23 4 years ago

    While I am glad I won't have to pay for the maps, I am also appalled by IW stating that they were only able to distribute the maps for free due to sponsoring from Nvidia... come on, you sold 10MILLION fucking copies of the game, giving your loyal customers the maps for free as a way of saying thank you would have been the right thing to do.
    Edited by 1 at 06/06/08 @ 21:05

  • gaselite #24 4 years ago

    It arrives two months after the Xbox 360 bundle, but is being offered for free to avoid the entirely justifiable outrage that would emanate from the PC community if they were made to pay for these maps.


    Great maps though. Freshens things up a bit.
    Edited by 1 at 06/06/08 @ 22:17