Activision Shuts Down Classic Call of Duty: Warzone Fan Revival

A fan-run project aimed at reviving the classic version of Call of Duty: Warzone has seemingly been shut down by the game’s publisher, Activision. After many years of working to bring back a 2021 build of Call of Duty: Warzone featuring the Black Ops Cold War versions of Verdansk and Rebirth Island, Activision has now issued a cease-and-desist to the team behind the project, stating that its intellectual property is being used without permission.

The surprise reveal of Call of Duty: Warzone back in 2020 took over the gaming world, becoming one of the most popular free-to-play Battle Royale shooters of all time, alongside the likes of Apex Legends and Fortnite. Six years later, Warzone is still going strong, but it’s a completely different game from what was launched at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With developers Treyarch Studios, Infinity Ward, and Sledeghammer Games releasing new mainline Call of Duty titles annually, many of the series’ newest features, weapons, operators, and more are fully integrated with Warzone at the beginning of each game’s Season 1 update. This has led to some drastic changes over the years, many of which fans haven’t been happy about.

Classic Call of Duty: Warzone Revival Shut Down By Activision

Although the team had been working on the project for years now, it was only earlier this month that word began to spread of a classic Call of Duty: Warzone fan revival project. The team was working to bring back the 2021 versions of Verdansk and Rebirth Island, along with all the iconic weapons from 2019’s Modern Warfare and 2020’s Black Ops Cold War, and had no intention of charging players. However, it looks like the project’s sudden rise in popularity caught the attention of publisher Activision, which has now issued the team a cease-and-desist letter. As spotted by Dexerto, Activision acknowledges the “passion and creativity” that the Call of Duty community brings, but that it is forced to step in when Call of Duty content is used without permission. The publisher says it is necessary “not only to protect our developers’ work, but also to keep our games secure.”

Unfortunately, anybody who has been in the Call of Duty community for many years now won’t be surprised by this outcome. Activision doesn’t take too kindly to fans using its intellectual property without its permission, and this isn’t the first time that such a project has been shut down. Back in 2024, a group of passionate fans developed a highly anticipated mod known as H2M, which used assets from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered to create a remaster of its hugely successful sequel, Modern Warfare 2. But just hours before the mod was set to launch, Activision issued the team a cease-and-desist order, shutting the project down.

Fans have rightly been left upset by the termination of these projects, which are often aimed at those looking for a nostalgia hit. The good news, however, is that Activision does seem to be well aware of the demand for some of the classics to make a return. The publisher recently brought back Verdansk, the original Warzone map, after a four-year absence. Now it’s gearing up to release a new mode for the free-to-play title that is heavily inspired by Black Ops 4‘s Blackout mode, which was Call of Duty‘s very first swing at a Battle Royale game.

New seasons of Black Ops 7 have also been relying heavily on nostalgia as a way to get veteran fans to jump back into the series. The shooter’s big Season 2 update dropped last week, bringing back the iconic Slums from Black Ops 2. More remastered maps are also on the way, with the mid-season patch set to add Grind and Firing Range, as well as even more new maps for players to jump into.