Activision has sent a cease and desist letter to popular Call of Duty mod X Labs, which has forced the modding group to comply and shut down operations on May 22. The now-famous CoD mod reintroduced several beloved elements of previous titles in the franchise, which fans can unfortunately no longer enjoy.
Following the shutdown news, the team behind XLabsProject thanked fans for their support via a May 23 tweet while also confirming they wouldn’t be arguing their case against the cease and desist letter. Instead, they plan to simply hang up their hats.
When X Labs was up and running, players could experience weapons from games gone by, modding tools, and anti-cheat systems. But as the CoD IP belongs to Activision, a legal cease and desist letter has brought their run to an end.
X Labs allowed players to dive into the various older CoD games no longer on the market. After simply installing the mod, players could experience games like Modern Warfare 2 (2009) using online servers easily and securely.
Leading dev Maurice Heumann shared that X Labs was also ceasing all BOIII ventures as a result of the cease and desist. There’s no confirmed reason why Activision is taking swift action against X Labs, but there’s a chance Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision could lead to more companies looking down the barrel of cease-and-desists.
This move from Activision has since spurred backlash from members of the community. Some disgruntled players took to social media to suggest new titles for upcoming CoD titles, including “Call of Lawsuit: Modern Sueing Ops” and “Call of Duty: Cease and Desist.”
CoD fans also joked about pre-ordering a “Saul Goodman operator” and suggested further out-cry to try and stop Activision.
Activision is well within its rights to send cease and desists to companies like X Labs. Whether the fans tolerate more decisions along this vein, though, is up in the air.
