Call of Duty X Labs project shuts down following Activision cease & desist letter
The X Labs mod was looking to restore old CoD titles with missing security and quality-of-life features.
The Call of Duty franchise has gone through several reinventions over the course of its twenty-year history. While the modern games still sell gangbusters and post astronomical player counts, there is a pocket of the fanbase that yearns for the classic CoD experience of a bygone era. It’s what inspired the X Labs project, which sought to restore games like Call of Duty: Ghosts and Black Ops 3. However, the project has been forced to shut down after a cease and desist from Activision.
The X Labs project made the unfortunate announcement to its players in a tweet this week.
X Labs was a fan-created mod that restored CoD games such as Modern Warfare 2 (2009), Ghosts, and Black Ops 3 with dedicated servers and anti-cheat software. While these games are still available and playable through modern console and PC storefronts, they’ve become rife with hackers and modders, putting player security at risk. It’s something the community has pleaded with Activision to address over the years.
We don’t have the fine details from Activision’s cease and desist letter, but with the X Labs project using the company’s IP, the publisher was likely well within its legal right to shut it down. It’s an unfortunate loss for CoD fans, especially after the Sm2 mod was shut down less than a week prior.
As for what comes next, the Call of Duty franchise proper is rumored to return to the Modern Warfare series with its next installment. With Activision actively seeking out and shutting down fan projects related to the franchise, fans are likely hoping to see some official support for the classic CoD games at some point in the future.
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replyDonovan Erskine posted a new article, Call of Duty X Labs project shuts down following Activision cease & desist letter
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The battle between the have lawyers and the have not lawyers.
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