The fate of the popular Call of Duty: Mobile game remains uncertain for now as Microsoft battles UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). In a response submitted to the CMA earlier this month, Microsoft said that it plans to phase out Call of Duty: Mobile after it releases Warzone Mobile. “CoD: Mobile was developed and is owned by TiMi Studios, a subsidiary of Tencent. Any spinout of the game would therefore. CoD: Mobile is expected to be phased out over time (outside of China) with the launch of Warzone Mobile,” Microsoft wrote in its response. Also Read - Microsoft brings ads to its Bing chat
The parts of the letter that detailed the reason behind this decision had been redacted and so it remains unclear why Microsoft might plan to kill Call of Duty: Mobile in the long term. However, it is easy to guess that fact that the game has been developed by China-based Tencent could be one of the contributing factors for the same. Also Read - GitHub lays engineering team in India, over 140 employees hit
While Microsoft mulls phasing out the game, Activision, via a tweet on its Call of Duty: Mobile handle has confirmed its plans of supporting the game and introducing new features to it over time. Also Read - Microsoft Teams’ latest update brings Avatars to the app
“We are committed to Call of Duty: Mobile as an important part of the entire Call of Duty franchise and our overall mobile strategy,” Activision wrote in the message adding that it will continue to support the game with a robust roadmap of fresh new Call of Duty: Mobile content, activities and updates “for the long haul”.
— Call of Duty: Mobile (@PlayCODMobile) March 13, 2023
Simply put, Activision has said that it plans to support the game and add new features to it for a very long time without explicitly mentioning how long that time period would be. While the uncertain timeline suggested by Activision isn’t exactly at odds with Microsoft’s plans, as the company in its letter to the CMA has said that it plans to phase out the game after it launches Warzone Mobile sometime in 2023, it doesn’t exactly fit in with Microsoft’s timeline as well as it indicates that the change is likely to happen sooner than later.
Despite the set plans by the two companies, the fate of the popular mobile game ultimately hinges on CMA’s decision. CMA is set to give its verdict in Microsoft-Activision deal case on April 26, 2023.
