Call of Duty Online Announced, in Development for Two Years

As rumoured last night, Activision and Tencent have announced Call of Duty Online. The game, which is planned for release as a free-to-play game in China, has been in development at Activision for two years.

“We are very excited about our relationship with Tencent and the opportunities for gaming in China,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “We think China is one of the most exciting places in the world for us to grow our business and to develop innovative new games.”

Martin Lau, President of Tencent, said, “We are thrilled to work with the world’s premiere game developer and publisher to bring this much-awaited title to Chinese game players. 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.”

Call of Duty Online will leverage the multiplayer experience that the Call of Duty franchise is known for and introduce a new gaming model designed specifically for the Chinese market. This new model will allow players the ability to personalize their weapons, characters and equipment by way of an in-game store, through micro-transactions.

The game includes a number of modes (which weren't detailed in this announcement) and features an original story set in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare universe.