Under development for two years now, Call of Duty Online finally got unveiled yesterday as a free-to-play title meant exclusively for China. This title will be brought to gamers in the Asian country by Activision Blizzard in partnership with Tencent Holdings Limited which is said to be a leading Internet services provider in China.
CoD Online is free-to-play, but it will be monetized through the sales of in-game items. It will supposedly take advantage of the multiplayer experience which CoD series in known to bestow gamers with, while also introducing a fresh gaming model designed specifically for the Chinese market. As part of the agreement between the two companies, Tencent has the exclusive license to operate this title in mainland China.
“We are thrilled to work with the world’s premiere game developer and publisher to bring this much-awaited title to Chinese game players,” Martin Lau, President of Tencent, commented. “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 multi-player online games can provide strong support to deliver the immersive and highly interactive game experience to game players in China.”
Activision has revealed that its new free-to-play model will enable gamers to personalize their weapons, characters and equipment ‘like never before.’ They will be able to make use of the CoD Online’s in-game store in order to enhance their weapons, gear and perks which too have been created specifically for the Chinese market. It will also feature a number of game modes and maps, as well as an original story that will be told through a series of Special Operations missions based on the CoD: Modern Warfare universe.
No specific release date has been mentioned by Activision as yet for Call of Duty Online.