Call Of Duty: fan-favourite COD shut down by Activision

A free-to-play Call of Duty fan game has been shut down following a cease-and-desist order from Activision.

With many fans of the Call of Duty series claiming that Activision is “getting greedier” with their latest releases, mostly due to the rising price tag of new entries in the series, it’s no wonder that many players find solace in fan creations. One fan-made game in particular, proved to be quite popular amongst veteran players of the series before Activision got their hands on it.

The FPS, called SM2, was created using the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (2009) engine, until recently switching to Call of Duty Modern Warfare Remastered’s engine to accommodate more players. The free-to-play title combined maps, weapons, and perks from multiple entries in the Call of Duty franchise. This allowed players the opportunity to mix and match a variety of classic CoD features.

It grew popular amongst fans, and ran for quite a while (over two years), before being targeted and threatened with legal action. SM2’s developers released the following statement, announcing the cease and desist they’d received: “Today, a team member received a cease and desist letter on behalf of Activision Publishing in relation to the SM2 project. [...] We are complying with this order and shutting down all operations permanently. Thank you all for your support over the past two years.”

It’s a sad time, but it was to be expected. Game development studios rarely take too kindly to fan creations, especially Nintendo, who’ve been ruthless when it comes to projects that infringe on their copyright. It looks like Call of Duty fans will have to stick to modern titles like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (2023) and Warzone 2 to get their FPS fix. Both titles are being continuously updated with new content, such as cosmetics, like the recent Crash Bandicoot collaboration, and legacy content from older titles.