Captain Price has endured plenty over the years. He’s tracked Vladimir Makarov across continents. He’s barked orders at Task Force 141. He’s grown a beard capable of making even Ghost envious.
The one thing he couldn’t withstand: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 running on its lowest graphics setting.
Pictures of Price’s mutilated hairdo took off online after last weekend's closed beta, and Activision and Infinity Ward have since pledged a fix.
The screenshots that started it
There was no shortage of beta talking points. Time-to-kill speeds. Spawn placements. The same load-bearing grievances that resurface every year on schedule.
One corner of the fanbase, though, took aim somewhere else entirely: Price’s barber.
Several images made the rounds on social media, depicting a character who appears — charitably — unwell. Hair missing. Beard gone. Fans joked that a bottle of hair gel might be a worthwhile purchase.
“bro….” read one post.
Another: “that ain’t captain Price that’s lieutenant Cost.”
And a third, without mercy: “That ain’t price that’s amount.”
For many, the figure hardly resembles the Task Force 141 leader they recognize.
Why most players never saw it
Those screenshots aren’t fake. The wrinkle is that Price only takes on that appearance when your hardware is set to the lowest possible settings.
Which is why the sightings were scattered instead of universal. A number of fans had already worked that out for themselves.
“What in the 1050 TI is this?” one post said. “Whoever took that screenshot got the game at ultra low, ultra performance, 11% resolution.”
The studio’s response
Replying to several of the more widely shared posts, the studio community team’s X/Twitter account said the issue would be handled “in a future update.”
“Hello! We’re aware of an issue with Price’s hair not appearing correctly when viewed at the lowest level of detail. The team will be addressing it in a future update. Ultimately this will not be an issue if players meet our recommended specs,” the account said.
Over on the Modern Warfare 4 Trello board, it sits under Known Issues: “Captain Price’s hair does not appear correctly when viewing his character model at the lowest level of detail.”
Price isn’t the only thing on the list
Exactly what that update contains is still unknown, and the hair is a long way from the front of the queue.
Other entries under Known Issues: framerate drops while cooking lethal weapons, hitching for PC players in their first multiplayer matches, and a loadout screen that gets stuck. TTK is under investigation. The spawns are too.
Should the closed beta have put you off, the open beta arrives this weekend with a single-player mission bundled in. Worth a second look.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 releases October 23, 2026, on PC, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S. Infinity Ward has outlined other features as well, including the ability to remove masks for some Operators.
So a properly rendered Price will eventually get a face and a haircut worth putting on display. Just don’t expect to find either one at 11% resolution.