Call of Duty Online, a free-to-play spinoff of the popular shooter franchise made exclusively for the Chinese market, is now in open beta and it might even make Call of Duty fans in the U.S. jealous.
The game has been made specifically for Chinese audiences. Series staples like the zombie mode are nowhere to be found due to cultural taboos, but instead have been replaced with a Cyborg mode that serves much the same purpose. The game will also include a survival mode, single-player missions inspired by the Modern Warfare and Black Ops installments of the franchise, and of course the iconic multiplayer action fans in the West are accustomed to.
Like most free-to-play titles, players will be able to buy and rent new weapons in the game. Opting for a free-to-play strategy in the Chinese market is a genius move by Activision. According to one recent study, the number of gamers in China might even equal the entire population of the United States, and most players in China play on PC due to the decade-long (but recently lifted) game console ban. Giving all of those players access to the game for free with the option of spending money on items is a formula that has worked for many games in the past.
Developed by Raven Software, adapting the franchise for Eastern sensibilities wasn't easy. As Call of Duty vice president Daniel Suarez told Game Informer last year, Call of Duty's chief competition in the Chinese market is another free-to-play shooter called Crossfire, a game that doesn't feature the "aim down sights" mechanic that is an essential element of Activision's shooter franchise.
"It's something that's embedded in the psyche of players," Suarez says. "For us, it's training them that this is going to give them more accuracy and that it's going to be a better experience for them."
It's clear Activision is putting a lot of resources into making sure Call of Duty Online is a success -- there is after all a ton of money on the line. To help sell the game Activision enlisted Captain America actor Chris Evans to star in a live-action commercial for the game. You can check it out below.
This all begs the question: is a free-to-play Call of Duty any good? At the end of the day that will be up to Chinese gamers to decide. Even it isn't, it seems safe to assume Activision will be making too much money care.
