Most discussion surrounding Call of Duty these days is either Warzone or Black Ops Cold War, but in China there's a third option: Call of Duty Online. This free-to-play shooter was made in China, for China, and in partnership with Chinese publisher Tencent to ensure that it could go from development to market without requiring expensive modifications to ensure compliance with Chinese regulations.
It was a novel way of breaking into the Chinese market, and one that certainly paid off for a time. Call of Duty Online launched to early access in 2012 before seeing a wider launcher in 2015. According to Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad, the game was relatively successful, but falling revenue and Activision's desire to focus resources into Call of Duty: Mobile has led to the unfortunate decision of closing down Call of Duty Online's servers at the end of August.
A recent posting on the official Call of Duty Online website reveals the sad news, but also a curious incentive to stick with the Call of Duty franchise. To give players something for all their hard-earned cosmetics and unlockables, Call of Duty Online is hosting a "compensation activity" that will provide players with cosmetics for Call of Duty: Mobile.
There are seven levels of rewards to earn, depending on your rank in Call of Duty Online. Players must take part in the event to qualify for the rewards, and players also have to make and link a Call of Duty: Mobile account before they're able to cash in.
Call of Duty: Mobile launched in China earlier this year, and according to Activision, brought in as many new players as the rest of the world combined. Given that most gamers in Asia are mobile gamers, it's fairly likely that these CoD: Mobile rewards will have at least some incentive to stick with the franchise, even though Call of Duty Online was exclusively for PC.
In other Call of Duty news, players are reporting random gifts of Rambo or Die Hard movie rentals for taking part in the current '80s Action Hero event. Y'know, in case you're too young to know who either Rambo or John McClane is.