Call Of Duty gamers heartbroken as Activision quietly shuts down fan-favourite multiplayer

Modders are wonderful members of the video community, continually breathing new life into the franchises that we love and the Call of Duty series is no exception.

If you asked any long-standing Call of Duty fan which games are their favourite in the series, the chances are that most would reply with either a Modern Warfare or Black Ops entry. Whether it’s a high-octane single-player campaign, intense multiplayer battles or fighting off hordes of the undead, there’s plenty of fun to be had with either sub-series.

Check out the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 trailer below!

When it comes to multiplayer, for me, nothing quite beats the maps and modes provided by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009). There was just something special about that time (aside from abusive lobby members) and even though Modern Warfare III (2023) remade the classic maps of MW2 (2009), it still never quite had that same vibe as the OG.

So, imagine the excitement just a few days ago, when fans were enjoying remastered maps from the original Modern Warfare 2. Created by a group of modders collectively called H2M, they took the original maps of MW2 and updated them with modern visuals.

There were no gameplay improvements or new features, these fan-made remastered maps from Modern Warfare 2 were as faithful as you can get, and the Call of Duty community loved it.

For the record, Activision released an official and faithful Modern Warfare 2 remaster in 2020 that only included the campaign and no multiplayer. So this fan-made mod helped to fill the void for those fans who felt aggrieved that the multiplayer wasn't included in that official remaster.

Sadly however, as is the case with big corporations and despite many modders being allowed to let their creative talents bring joy to gamers worldwide, Activision has issued H2M with a cease and desist. The remastered Modern Warfare 2 maps are no more.

“Today, our team members received a Cease & Desist order on behalf of Activision Publishing in relation to the H2M-Mod project. We are complying with this order and shutting down all operations immediately and permanently,” tweeted @H2Multiplayer, the official Twitter account of the Call of Duty modders.

It was no doubt the best decision to remove the mod by H2M, no matter how disheartening it must have been. But it wasn't worth the hassle of facing court battles with the financial clout of the Activision lawyers.

If you still want to play the Modern Warfare 2 maps in their original form, they are still playable via Xbox backwards compatibility and of course, the official remade maps exist in Modern Warfare III (2023).

The next entry in the Activision series is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 which releases on 25 October 2024 for PC, PlayStation and Xbox.