Activision has shut down a highly anticipated Call of Duty mod, just hours before it was due to release. The mod, H2M, was billed as a remastering of the original Modern Warfare II multiplayer experience, delivering what Activision itself did not. But it’s not going to happen. As fans feared, Activision issued a cease and desist order to the developers, just like the company did with the fan-made Call of Duty SM2 mod in 2023.
“We are complying with this order and shutting down all operations immediately and permanently,” the developers said. The order to shut it down came on August 15, just a day before the modders were due to release the H2M mod on August 16.
The mod would have required a copy of 2017’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. In anticipation of the mod’s release, sales of Modern Warfare Remastered rose significantly on Steam. After the news about the cease and desist order came out, however, players review-bombed Modern Warfare Remastered, turning its recent reviews rating to “mostly negative.”
Modern Warfare Remastered recently went on sale on Steam, prompting people to speculate that Activision was trying to capitalize on interest in H2M. However, the game regularly goes on sale.
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.
— H2 Multiplayer Mod (@H2Multiplayer) August 15, 2024
Fans who were impressed by the quality of the H2M mod have expressed interest in donating to the mod’s creators to help them out, but one of the founders said the team has no plans to do this. “Anyone trying to make money off H2M is not us. Beware,” the developer said. This person also said the modding group might turn its attention to an original game next.
In other Call of Duty news, Activision will reveal what’s next for Black Ops 6 during the Call of Duty Next event on August 28. Shortly after that, the Black Ops 6 beta begins on August 30.
