Call of Duty X Labs has been shut down by Activision. A fan project which allowed players access to secure lobbies for select older CoD games, after support from studios has ended, X Labs has received a cease and desist letter from Activision, and its makers say it will close the Call of Duty project “permanently.” This is the second CoD-related cease and desist for the FPS game series in one week after SM2.
X Labs would modify older Call of Duty games and attempt to extend their online lifespan, with servers and security improvements to help play them like they were at release. You could also use weapons from other CoD games, with mod integration, anti-cheat, and ongoing support directly from the X Labs team available as well.
“Today, we have received a Cease & Desist letter on behalf of Activision Publishing in relation to the X Labs project,” writes the X Labs Twitter account. “We are complying with this order and shutting down all operations permanently. Thank you all for your support over the years.”
As of publication the X Labs website and Discord have been completely shut down, which directly follows on from Call of Duty fan game SM2 also being shut down due to an Activision cease and desist letter.
Third-party services like X Labs give players various modifications to Call of Duty games, allowing access to features and support removed by developers. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and Ghosts were supported by X Labs, while the aforementioned SM2 was a Modern Warfare Remastered client that remixed various elements from other CoD games into that engine.
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