ENTERTAINMENT | November 6th, 2019 9:32 AM

If you’ve ever been flummoxed by the multiple meanings of AMA or thought POTUS, FLOTUS, and SCOTUS were a trio of breakfast cereal mascots, then you’ve experienced the challenge of interpreting acronyms. Unfortunately for fans of the COD franchise (that’s Call of Duty, not Cash on Delivery), the developers at IW (that’s Infinity Ward, not InformationWeek, Impact Wrestling, or Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft) have just as much trouble deciphering ambiguous strings of capital letters. A recent report reveals that during the development of the latest installment of Modern Warfare (abbreviated MW and not to be confused with Merriam-Webster or megawatt), devs misinterpreted UI (User Interface) to mean “Unfinished Interface,” which led to the release of a menu system as unwieldy as the acronym Adcomsubordcomphibspac (Administrative Command, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet Subordinate Command).

The Modern Warfare UI is rife with typos, unclear mission objectives and progression, camos that don’t unlock, progress and value bars that extend beyond their containers, buttons that aren’t large enough for their contents, unnecessary menu resetting when all you’re trying to do is edit a loadout but your friend keeps changing his mind about starting a match, and menus with more layers than ogres and onions combined.

The devs reportedly mistook the acronym for an unfinished version of the interface, thinking that “UI” on the schedule meant that they only needed a rough placeholder menu by that time. "I remember thinking it was weird for the schedule to say 'Finish UI,' when UI meant 'Unfinished Interface,'” said a developer who wished to remain anonymous. “‘Finish Unfinished Interface.’ I thought it was a bit of an oxymoron."

Wanting sufficient time to ensure that players would consistently spawn in the line of fire and the 725 shotgun was appropriately overpowered, the IW devs pawned the task of designing the “Unfinished Interface” off on the intern Brad, who was actually just a Make-A-Wish kid getting a tour of the office. All things considered, the palsied eight-year-old with six months to live did a pretty good job.