Today’s news of Activision shutting down a popular upcoming Call of Duty mod that aimed to “remaster” the original Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer is not going over well with the community.
The H2 Multiplayer mod, or H2M, was a free mod in the works for 2017’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, adding in a bunch of new content including maps, weapons, and more from 2009’s MW2. But just a day out from release, Activision issued a cease and desist today, shutting the mod down for good.
Shortly after the news broke, some big community figures who have been around CoD just about as long as anybody, such as OpTic owner H3CZ and FaZe Clan CEO Banks chimed in with their feelings.
“It’s like they can’t get out of their own way to allow for a community to be passionate about a game that they all fell in love for,” H3CZ said of Activision’s cease and desist while streaming with Scump. “Now, I would understand if these mod people were charging people to get in there, I understand if these mod people were charging for skins that they made, that they’d collect money on, I understand all that. But if it’s just a simple mod that increases the quality of the movement and of the visuals of said game, which no one is currently playing because it’s so old, then why interfere at that level? Don’t you got bigger things to fuckin’ worry about?”
Meanwhile, Banks put out a statement on the FaZe Clan Twitter/X account, begging Activision to reconsider in a plea that will likely disappear into the aether.
“We are begging that you guys reconsider this decision @Activision,” Banks said. “To be clear we have zero involvement in this project outside of being massive fans. We were excited to produce an ILLCAMS on the H2 mod. Their team made it a requirement to purchase the original MW2 Remastered published by YOU GUYS. An excellent asset to onboard users/ players to your product. This is harmless fun and community building. Something we feel Call of Duty desperately needs. Please do the right thing and let the kids play their game.”
In light of the news, MW Remastered now has a “Mostly Negative” rating for recent reviews on Steam and a “Mixed” rating for all reviews. Most, if not all, of the recent reviews mention H2M and the mod being shut down.
“Only got the game cause of H2M, waited and waited and TA DAAA CEASE AND DESIST,” one recent Steam review said. “Man literally f**k off Activision, you can never make customers happy, we bought your game and you get the money, LET US PLAY WHAT WE COMMUNITY MAKE WHAT YOU GUYS WON’T AND NEVER WILL DO.”
Earlier in the week, MW Remastered was on the top seller list on Steam, marked down 50 percent to $19.99 ahead of the mod’s release with many players buying it in anticipation of playing H2M tomorrow.
Regardless of how anyone feels about CoD or the mod itself, it’s definitely a sad day for those who worked on H2M, such as SoaR Alastor, who said they are “genuinely heartbroken.”
“Over a year of work from a dedicated group of people working for FREE to relive a fan favorite Call of Duty,” they said. “Not a penny earned despite generating THOUSANDS OF SALES FOR ACTIVISON, all to get shut down AFTER PEOPLE SPENT THEIR MONEY. I’m sorry everyone.”
Many players have shared on social media that they’re requesting refunds for MW Remastered on Steam since today’s news came out.
