Call of Duty Online Enters Open Beta in China

By Michael Byrne, Editor-in-Chief January 13, 2015

Almost 3 years ago, I wrote up a small piece about a possible version of Call of Duty being made as a free-to-play game in China. At the time, the move made a bit of sense. With consoles being banned at the time in China, releasing a free-to-play Call of Duty was a great way to get an already popular product in front of a huge audience that had not had a lot of exposure to the game.

Fast forward to today. The 14 year console ban in China was lifted in early 2014, and I'm not so sure that this move makes sense for Activision anymore. That said, Activision and Tencent are moving their free-to-play Call of Duty Online into Open Beta.

Steven Ma, Senior Vice President of Tencent, said, "Since announcing Call of Duty Online, we have gone through a series of alpha and closed beta tests, with each test generating incredibly positive results. Call of Duty Online is a top tier game developed by an elite team and we are honored to bring this highly anticipated title to the Chinese players."

Call of Duty Online is being developed by Raven Software and draws from the worlds of both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Black Ops. Don't expect this version of the game to be released anywhere else though. When the words "exclusively designed for China" appear multiple times in your press releases it's pretty apparent that there are no plans to take the game elsewhere...although if enough money is made, things can always change.

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In this article: Call of Duty Online, Tencent.

About the Author

Michael Byrne, Editor-in-Chief
Mike “Magicman” Byrne has been a part of the MMOBomb family for years and serves as the site’s current Editor-in-Chief. His love for MMOs and gaming in general has led him to covering games for numerous websites including Gamebreaker TV and XIV Nation where he proudly displays his fanboy flag for FFXIV:ARR.

eltun 5 years ago

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eltun 5 years ago

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agil ghoul 6 years ago

Download her how to bang

Bic Boi 6 years ago

Something about this echoes 'counterstrike nexon zombies' to me...

Razer 6 years ago

Chinese games, 5 years behind the rest of the world as usual.

zzz 6 years ago

POO !!! brainless fps , few map repetetive crap like tonns of similar shets!

Arnis 6 years ago

Good game, but i play from europe then get laggg

Joshua M. 6 years ago

Im currently playing this (From Texas in the US) And this is by far better than any other cod game since Cod 4. Yes it's laggy but thats all because of the distance from the servers.
I also like that they brought back old fav maps aswell as added alot. Can only hope that one day they bring it to the US, And hopefully it's soon.

Dunce 6 years ago

Activision needs to offer quite a bit in order to make this one profitable. With Counter Strike and Cross Fire being an extremely huge shooter demographic in China, Call of Duty Online might require a push or two before it makes its way to the market as a successful product.

ThePyroxPL 6 years ago

and when will be able in canada

ashoppingcartglx 6 years ago

I honestly expect this to be released in America not anytime soon though. After seeing the sales of COD:AW(27% less then COD:Ghosts) the future of $60 purchase is going to fade. Eventually Activison will need to come up with a way of keeping the money flowing in. With F2P gaining respect among the B2P market, I see this as a golden ticket for them.