If you’ve tried to join a match in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and received the frustrating “Join Failed because you’re on a different version” error, you’re not alone. This error is common across many Call of Duty titles, including Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2. The error message may vary slightly, but it usually reads something like “Join Failed because you’re on a different version” with the occasional status message like “Status: Savana.”
Unlike many other error messages, this one tells you exactly what’s going wrong—you and your teammates are on different versions of the game. Call of Duty is notorious for its large updates, which are periodically released. These updates are necessary to continue playing online, and they must be downloaded before joining a match.
In most cases, the error happens because you haven’t updated your game yet. The solution is simple: exit the game, wait for the update to download, and then try joining your teammates again. However, this error can also occur in the opposite situation. If you’re on the latest version of the game but your teammates are on an older version, it can still cause issues. Thankfully, as long as all players are using the same outdated version, they can still play together.
The easiest fix for this is convincing your teammates to update their game. If they’re playing on a console (PlayStation or Xbox), the simplest solution is to have them restart their console. This will prompt the game to update itself. There are other ways to force an update on consoles, like manually searching for updates, but restarting the console is often the quickest and easiest.
On a PC, it’s even simpler. Just exit the game and the game launcher (such as Battle.net or Steam), and the update should begin downloading automatically. Once everyone is on the same version of the game, you’ll be able to join matches and play together seamlessly.