What Is Slide Canceling in Call of Duty? MW3 Movement Feature Explained

The presence of the slide cancel mechanic has long been a hot and even controversial topic in Call of Duty. You may be wondering what it is and how to do it, especially with it looking like a guaranteed feature in 2023’s Modern Warfare 3. Here’s what it is, how to do it and why it looks set to return.

What Is Slide Canceling in CoD?

Slide canceling is a movement feature that allows players to move much faster in Call of Duty. It’s featured in a series of instalments and games across the CoD series. It wasn’t included in 2022’s titles, absent from Warzone and Modern Warfare 2.

When they slide cancel, players are able to move more quickly than those not slide canceling. There’s a host of obvious benefits to this, like reaching objectives faster than enemies or repositioning rapidly. It’s not that simple though, with it requiring some practice and skill to pull off.

How To Slide Cancel

The exact how-to of the mechanic depends on whether you’re on controller or PC. Naturally, it’s slightly different on each platform, even if the overall idea remains the same. To slide cancel on controller, do the following:

1. Start sprinting (press the left joystick down and forwards).
2. When up to sprint speed, press the slide button.
3. As your character’s slide animation slows, press the slide button again.
4. Immediately after, press the jump button.
5. Repeat to continue moving faster.

To slide cancel on mouse and keyboard, do the following:

1. Change your Change Stance/Slide bind to one you are able to use multiple times rapidly. A lot of players opt to use the left-CTRL key or C.
2. Double-tap your Tactical Sprint key.
3. Immediately hit the Change Stance/Slide.
4. Hit the Change Stance/Slide key again to cancel the slide animation.
5. Repeat to continue moving faster.

Feature to Return in Modern Warfare 3

We now expect the slide cancel mechanic to return in Modern Warfare 3, which is thought to be developed by Sledgehammer Games and set for a release in fall 2023.

Activision have been teasing the return of slide canceling by sending merch packages to prominent creators. One, Swagg, received a pair of slides, a can and a cell phone. Naturally, the CoD community quickly put the ‘slide-can-cell’ hints together.

It is typically popular among higher skill players because it’s difficult to pull off and creates more of a skill gap. Some don’t like it and claim it’s a movement exploit – combining different core mechanics to move quicker than intended.

However, it’s hard to argue it’s going against the rules or spirit of CoD if it’s officially endorsed by the devs. Expect to see it feature prominently in high level MW3, whether in your own Ranked matches or among the professionals in the Call of Duty League.

That’s everything to say about slide canceling in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. We’ll be covering everything on Activision’s upcoming FPS instalment, so stay with us right here.