Call of Duty Online, a free-to-play game for China that originally launched in 2015, is closing down. Tencent, which operates the game there, announced that the game will close, and users will be encouraged to move over to Call of Duty Mobile.
Niko Partners' Daniel Ahmad relayed the information. Citing an official announcement, Ahmad said it came down to "declining revenue and lack of renewal from Activision." The game will close at the end of August.
Tencent will be shutting down Call of Duty Online in China at the end of August.
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 31, 2021
The F2P PC game for China launched in 2015 and was fairly successful.
Declining revenue and lack of renewal from Activision will see the game close. Users will be pushed towards CODM instead. pic.twitter.com/pBMQ05N32x
Call of Duty Online players will get items for Call of Duty Mobile to help ease the transition. Ahmad said Call of Duty Online was "fairly successful" in China during its run.
The Call of Duty franchise overall is crushing it right now, and it's bigger than ever. Activision is focusing on three main areas--Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Mobile, and the yearly sequels in the premium franchise. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the focus right now, but this will shift to what is believed to be Call of Duty: WWII - Vanguard later this year.
Call of Duty Online is not the first example of a major FPS franchise adopting a free-to-play model for an audience outside of America. Microsoft launched Halo Online for Russia in 2015 but it was canceled a year later. Some of its content, like new Halo 3 multiplayer maps, are now making their way to Halo 3 inside Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Captain America's Chris Evans starred in a hype trailer for Call of Duty Online, which was developed by, at least at one point in time, Raven Software, and was inspired by the Modern Warfare and Black Ops universes.
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