_{▶️ Watch the full demo · 18 s, iPhone 13 Pro Max}

IW4 Pocket

Modern Warfare 2 (2009) on your iPhone, running on the open-source IW4L engine. Unofficial and experimental.

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🎯 What is this?

A port of the open-source IW4L engine to iOS. It does not contain the game: it reads the game files you already own on PC. Think of it as a new player for files you have.

📊 Where it stands

• ✅ Runs natively on iPhone (Rust + Bevy + Metal)
• ✅ Reaches the main menu. Touch works as a click and a PS4 controller works
• ⚠️ Loading a match map (tested: mp_rust) still crashes: iOS closes the app for using too much memory. Not solved yet. It is released so people can test it and help

🙋 Try it, step by step

No coding needed. It takes about 15 minutes plus the file copy.

1. Get the game files. You need your own copy of Modern Warfare 2 (2009) for PC (the Steam version). The folder must contain a subfolder named zone. This project does not provide or link to game files
2. Install SideStore on your iPhone by following the official guide. It is the tool that installs apps like this one
3. Download the app: IW4.Pocket.ipa (or open the release page)
4. Install it with SideStore (tap +, pick the file). If you already have an older version, install over it: uninstalling deletes your game files
5. Open the app once, then close it. This creates its folder
6. Copy your MW2 folder into the Files app: On My iPhone > IW4 Pocket > Games. Any folder name works, as long as it contains zone
7. Pair a controller in Bluetooth settings (PS4/DualShock 4 is verified), then open the app. The first load is slow and the screen can stay pink for a while

📱 Will it work on my device?

• ✅ Tested: iPhone 13 Pro Max (6 GB), iOS 27. Menus work, match maps crash
• ❓ Everything else is unverified. Technically it should run on any iPhone or iPad with Metal; the app declares iOS 15 as its minimum, but I never tried it there
• 🧠 Memory is the limit. On the tested phone iOS allows the app about 3 GB. Devices with less RAM will likely fail sooner; 8 GB+ iPhones and M-series iPads are the most interesting to test
• 🎮 A controller is needed to play. Touch only works in the menus

🐞 Help me test

Tried it? Please open an issue with:

• your device and iOS version
• what happened (menu? map loaded? app closed?)
• the file iw4l-boot.log from On My iPhone > IW4 Pocket. It records startup, memory use and crashes

🔧 Something went wrong?

• "MW2 Multiplayer was not found": the folder must be inside Games and contain zone
• Pink screen for a long time: wait, the first load is slow
• Controller not detected: pair it in Bluetooth first, then reopen the app
• App closes on a map: that is the known memory issue. Send the log
• To limit texture size: add a text file iw4l-texture-cap.txt containing only a number such as 256, then fully restart the app

🛠️ Build it yourself

Run the ios-release workflow from the Actions tab (macOS runner) and give it a tag.

⚖️ Credits and legal

Port of IW4L by vladtrc and contributors (Apache-2.0, see LICENSE, NOTICE; original README in README.upstream.md).

Unofficial fan project, not affiliated with Activision, Infinity Ward, Apple or the IW4L authors. Call of Duty and Modern Warfare are trademarks of their owners. You must own a legitimate copy of the game.

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