Changing the Language

Important

If your version of the game has a region lock, you won’t be able to change the language!

Change Steam Settings

If IW4x is installed in the same directory as your Steam version, you only need to follow the steps below.
If it’s installed in a different directory, please also refer to the additional steps further below.

1. Open Steam and go to your LIBRARY

2. Right-click on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) - Multiplayer

3. Select Properties…

4. In the General tab, find the Language section

5. Click on the drop-down menu and select your desired language

After changing the language, Steam will download the necessary files for the chosen option.
Once the download is complete, you can launch IW4x and enjoy the game in your preferred setting!

Caution

Please note that downloading new language files can take a while, depending on your internet connection.
The video above has been sped up for demonstration purposes.

Different Install Location

If IW4x is installed separately from your Steam version, you’ll need to manually copy the language files.
Refer to the section above for instructions on how to acquire them.

Files to Copy

Make sure to copy the following files and folders from your Steam installation:

• The file localization.txt
• The folder main/video/
• The folder zone/<language>/ (e.g., zone/russian/ for Russian)
• All files named localized_<language>_iw##.iwd in the main/ folder (e.g., localized_russian_iw00.iwd for Russian)

File Structure Overview

• DirectoryCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

  • Directorymain

    • Directoryvideo

      • *.bik all files
    • localized_<language>_iw00.iwd
    • .. All .iwd files for the selected language
    • localized_<language>_iw##.iwd
  • Directoryzone

    • Directory<language>/

      • *.ff all files
  • localization.txt

Files to Remove

By now, your main folder should contain localized_<language>_iw##.iwd files for both your newly selected language and the one you were using before. If you launch the game at this point, you might see an error like this:

To fix it, you’ll need to take action on the files from the previous language.
You can choose one of the following:

• Rename them - For example, add .bak to the end: localized_english_iw00.iwd -> localized_english_iw00.iwd.bak
• Move them - e.g., create a folder named english next to main and move the files there
• Delete them entirely

Which method to use is up to you. The key is that the main folder only contains files for one language.

Example: Russian Language

If you want to add Russian as a new language, copy the following from your Steam version to the same relative paths in your IW4x folder:

• DirectoryCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

  • Directorymain

    • Directoryvideo/

      • …
    • localized_russian_iw00.iwd
    • localized_russian_iw01.iwd
    • localized_russian_iw02.iwd
    • localized_russian_iw03.iwd
    • localized_russian_iw04.iwd
    • localized_russian_iw05.iwd
    • localized_russian_iw06.iwd
    • localized_russian_iw07.iwd
    • localized_russian_iw08.iwd
  • Directoryzone

    • Directoryrussian/

      • …
  • localization.txt