Call of Duty Goes to China

Activision, partnering with Chinese game company Tencent, is launching a free-to-play Call of Duty shooter in the Chinese market, the companies revealed this morning. "Call of Duty Online" is the name, but beyond that little is known – the image above is from the game's teaser site, and the site contains no information other than a giant countdown clock. While consoles are banned in China, the microtransaction-based model on PC is widespread throughout China. Activision first mentioned the free-to-play, microtransaction-based game back in February 2011. Activision also mentioned that this game is in development for over two years...

Answering a question during an investor conference call, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick called the game "specific for the Chinese audiences," and clarified, "The product that we announced today is being developed just for China." Kotick added, "That's not to say it might not have applicability elsewhere, but what we're doing right now is focused on China."

"We believe Call of Duty Online will attract tens of millions of loyal fans in China, and our game platform and operational expertise to run massive multiplayer online games can provide strong support to deliver the immersive and highly interactive game experience to game players in China.", says Martin Lau, Tencent's president.

Late last month, Activision snatched up a slew of Call of Duty related web addresses—17 in total. The websites are probably protecting the Call of Duty online presence in China from internet bad guys.
Tencent apparently has the "exclusive license" to run Call of Duty Online in China, and Bobby Kotick is "very excited" about the game's prospects.

Announcement Trailer


We'll probably have more information soon..

General Shepherd
CoD News Team

Sources:
joystiq.com
Game Informer