Activision shut down viral Call of Duty mod because it "did not want H2M interfering with possible sales of Black Ops 6," says creator

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The H2M creator alleges that Activision was worried about the mod's growing popularity

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 screenshot
(Image credit: Activision)

Activision shut down a viral Modern Warfare mod on the same day as its planned release because it reportedly didn't want the free, fanmade project to interfere with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's commercial performance when it comes out October 25.

The H2M mod was set to bring a host of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) content, including classic maps and weapons, to Modern Warfare Remastered just earlier this week. All H2M required was a copy of the remaster, which prompted Modern Warfare to rocket up sales chart in the days leading up to release. But hopes for the mod were dashed just hours before as Activision sent a Cease and Desist letter to the team behind it.

"Immediately we just dropped everything and turned off all our servers and our website and everything we could," H2M modder Watchful Wolf explained in the video embedded below. 

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Later on in the video, the modder reveals "the reasoning of the Cease and Desist that they listed in the letter" was that the mod had gained too much popularity in close proximity to Black Ops 6's release date. "They did not want H2M interfering with possible sales of Black Ops 6," Watchful Wolf alleges. 

Moving forward on his his channel, Watchful Wolf is going to "quit modding on Call of Duty - I would be down to make some zombies maps - but in the meantime, I think we're gonna make our own game." Details are a bit fuzzy for now, but it may "very well be a kind of joint union of the H2M and [also shut down mod] SM2 teams to work on our own game, but we'll have to wait and see what's happening, no promises."

As Activision suddenly kills a long-awaited Call of Duty mod, Infinity Ward veteran encourages the publisher to “build systems to help your UGC community, not strangle it.”

Kaan Serin
Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.