Activision Blizzard is storming the shores of China. The company has announced the new public open beta for Call of Duty Online, the new free-to-play PC title that brings one of the world's most popular brands to the world's largest marketplace.
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Raven Software, the veteran studio behind last year's stellar Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, is handling the development of the game alongside Activision. The world's fourth largest internet company Tencent Holdings will be distributing the game, so there will probably be a lack of down servers.
Sorry Westerners, but we've taken too much stuff from China in the past: this one is theirs and theirs alone. At least for now.
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The microtransaction-based game draws on previous titles, utilizing maps, models and weapons from Black Ops and Modern Warfare and delivers "an unprecedented, unique offering for Chinese players, including Hero Ops single-player campaign missions, Survival Mode cooperative experiences, best-in-class Call of Duty multiplayer and the newly created Cyborgs (an exclusive Chinese PvE mode) will bring the popular Zombies maps from previous Call of Duty titles to the country.
"Over the last few years, we've worked closely with Tencent to tailor Call of Duty Online specifically for the Chinese audience, while maintaining an authentic Call of Duty experience," said Brian Raffel, Studio Head at Raven Software. "We've had a unique opportunity to take the best moments from the entire Call of Duty franchise - along with all-new unique experiences - and deliver the ultimate entertainment package for a whole new audience."
Meanwhile, the rest of the world can download the F2P Call of Duty: Heroes for mobile. We're not suggesting you actually should, but if you're in need of a free version of the game, it's the only one around.
Hopefully, a Western version will be coming out sometime in the near future, though I would not hold my breath on that one.