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What is Call of Duty?
Call of Duty (CoD) is one of the most popular first-person shooter video game franchises in the world. The series began in 2003 and has since spawned numerous mainline games, spin-offs, and remasters. Renowned for its engaging single-player campaigns and addictive multiplayer gameplay, Call of Duty has become a cornerstone of the gaming industry. Many streamers online such as Kai cenat, Dr. Disrespect, TimTheTatman and many others have gameplay available live on Twitch and Youtube.
Who is Activision?
Activision is a major American video game publisher. The company has been in operation since the late 1970s, and it’s responsible for several iconic franchises beyond Call of Duty such as Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy the loveable marsupial and the Spyro Reignited Trilogy similarly revived a fan-favourite dragon. Not to mention, Activision’s partnership with Blizzard has resulted in World of Warcraft, one of the most successful MMORPGs of all time, released in 2004 with players continuing to this day.
What is a Mod?
A mod (short for modification) is an alteration or addition to a video game that can change elements of gameplay, graphics, sound, and more. Mods range from simple changes like character skins to extensive fan-made projects that completely transform the base game, adding new features, maps, and gameplay mechanics. The Call of Duty SM2 project was a fan-made mod developed for the Call of Duty franchise.
What is SM2?
SM2 is a fan-made call of duty project that has been developed the past 2 years and was going to be released free to gamers who had previously purchased Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2. This Free-to-play modification based on the Modern Warfare franchise was greatly anticipated from many nostalgic gamers who were looking forward to playing their favourite call of duty game with different weapon selections, maps and gameplay.
This hybrid game would have provided Call Of Duty players to take each aspect of their favourite games within the franchise and play them in a single platform with their friends. Unfortunately the hardworking devs for 2 years will no longer have their mod released for free, it will remain behind closed doors.
Why is Call of Duty SM2 so popular? (Nostalgia)
The Call of Duty SM2 mod tapped into the nostalgia of fans by bringing back the classic gameplay and maps from the iconic Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009), one of the franchise’s most beloved entries. Fans were looking forward to revisiting fan-favourite maps and experiencing the thrill of Modern Warfare 2 in a new light.
Fans drooled over each announcement that the developers made on their twitter where users would comment their excitement for the release. Many other youtube personalities posted videos and reviews about what could have been an awesome modification to a classic game.
Call of Duty Map Favourites
The mod aimed to recreate some of the most popular maps from the franchise, like Rust, Nuketown, Strike, Terminal, and Highrise. These maps are fondly remembered by the Call of Duty community for their design, balance, and the high-octane matches they hosted. The anticipation of seeing these maps revitalized was a significant draw for the SM2 project.
Call of Duty Gameplay Favourites
Part of what made Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and by extension, the SM2 mod, so beloved was its gameplay. From the frantic gun battles to the tactical use of perks, killstreak rewards, and the intensity of game modes like Search and Destroy, fans were excited to relive these experiences with the SM2 mod.
Why did it get cancelled?
The SM2 developers were served on behalf of Activision publishing to cease and desist their current project. It’s believed that the small group of developers of SM2 moving their mod from one game to another may have influenced the cease and desist letter being served. The team tweeted today to announce the letter:
“Today, a team member received a Cease & Desist letter on behalf of Activision Publishing in relation to the sm² project. We are complying with this order and shutting down all operations permanently. Thank you all for your support over the past 2 years.”
The Call of Duty SM2 mod was originally based on the original Modern Warfare 2 engine (2009 IW4). After much time of developing the SM2 modification, the team had decided to move the game from the older engine to the Modern Warfare 2 Remastered H1 engine.
Moving a mod from one game to another often isn’t a simple copy-paste job, it also comes with its share of legal and technical challenges.. Different games, even within the same franchise, may use different engines or different versions of the same engine. They may have different assets, programming languages, and structures. So, a mod designed for one game may not work at all in another without significant adaptation.
To use the mod you would have to own the original Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) game, which meant that Activision would greatly benefit from the revitalisation of sales from an older game. The SM2 mod development team encouraged the purchase of the game so gamers could participate in testing the current modified version.
The SM2 mod team recently made a public statement:
“We know we asked people to buy the game when the MW2 version of the project was still in development, but we do not want people to buy a second game after all this time. People who did buy MW2 however will be granted exclusive rewards”
This indicates that the developers know that individuals will potentially find a pirated version of Call of Duty Remastered which will enable them to play Call Of Duty SM2. The remastered version of this game is much newer and SM2 may stop buyers from purchasing the game in the short term and instead wait until SM2 is fully released. It is indicated by sources to be the reason the game is being served a cease and desist.
Unfortunately, the Call of Duty SM2 mod project has been shut down. The development team, a small group of independent developers passionate about the Call of Duty franchise pulled the plug on the project. The team had been working on the mod for the past two years and had been looking forward to releasing it for free to the community. The cease and desist order, citing intellectual property rights.
The SM2 website now redirects to their twitter page saying they are shutting down their development.
