### THE END OF AN ERA: CLASSIC MW2 MOD SHUTS DOWN BY ACTIVISION'S HAND

If you take a look at the diorama of video gaming that is ever-unfolding before us, many consoles, titles and genres deservedly attain the status of ‘classic’. Among them, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) (2009) is significant, not just for how it shaped and invigorated the FPS genre upon release, but for all subsequent years, including the present one. For veterans and newcomers alike, MW2 continues to be a beloved part of gaming culture – including a thriving community of enthusiasts who have repurposed and unexpectedly revitalised the title through a popular third-party mod, H2M. Unfortunately, Activision, the company that owns the Call of Duty franchise, recently squashed H2M and put an end to this community’s endeavours. More than that, by hesitating to explore how to meaningfully preserve classic games and not shutting down mods like H2M, Activision has allowed copyright control to undermine community passion. The fate of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, along with other cherished titles, illuminates the debate over players’ and fans’ ownership of digital games and the games industry’s reluctance to even discuss it.

### CLASSIC GAMES AND FAN-DRIVEN REVIVALS

Before long, this classic game had been given a second bite of the apple, with the help of modding communities. H2M was one of those mods: a recreation of the multiplayer experience for what many consider to be one of the finest first-person shooters ever made.

### ACTIVISION'S STANCE: PROTECTING A LEGACY OR STIFLING INNOVATION?

But when the US publisher Activision sent the developers behind the H2M mod a nasty cease and desist letter, it spurred a debate about the boundaries between respecting intellectual property and letting fans pay tribute to their favourite classic titles. It’s a tricky issue, with incredibly nuanced arguments on both sides. The first is that game publishers have every right to protect their games and intellectual property. But fan projects can go a long way toward keeping a game alive, spreading the word about it to new audiences, and keeping the player base healthy.

### THE IMPACT ON THE MW2 COMMUNITY

To fans, the project’s shutdown was more than that; it represented a lost chance to help make the classic MW2 shine once more. Communities of classic-game lovers are often founded on that same shared love and nostalgia. Their mods are often their lifeblood, the vascular systems that allow these games to continue to breathe in the wider world. Without such projects, it’s possible that old games would be left like isolated dinosaur skeletons, neglected in a dusty old gallery, their stories and experiences remembered only by the people who were lucky enough to be around for their debut.

### FINDING A MIDDLE GROUND

But is there a compromise that respects the legal rights of those developers, and at the same time respects the wishes of the gaming community to keep their favourite games alive and evolving? Perhaps developers could have more robust support for modding by supplying fans with tools and guidelines allowing them to engage in their creativity within certain boundaries. Another compromise would be licensing arrangements, whereby fan projects could have an official imprimatur, keeping classic titles open to evolution while still keeping control of their intellectual property with developers.

### THE FUTURE OF CLASSIC GAME PRESERVATION

The story of H2M mod is just one more roadside tragedy in the quest to preserve and honour our classic titles in this new, digital era. As technology and laws evolve, we’ll need collaboration and communication between developers, publishers and fans to find ways to keep these games alive and vibrant.

### A TRIBUTE TO CLASSICS

In every way, classics such as MW2 are the standard bearers for what it’s like to be a part of a worldwide gaming community: they remind us of days gone by, of friendships made as we fought gun to gun, and of the delight of play. Even though the H2M mod is gone, the spirit of MW2 and millions of other classics remains and serves to this day to bring gamers together.

### UNDERSTANDING "CLASSIC"

It is almost a holy one, in gaming terms. The thing about ‘classic’ that tends to escape people, though, is how willing it is to encompass games from a variety of eras that achieve similar goals – and how those goals can shift. Classic games are timeless in that they have continued to delight players over time, but they more often speak to a very specific idea of gaming: a set of rules and mechanics that capture our long-term interest and emotion, either with their gameplay, their story, or both. Classics are less about games that are old, and more about games that are fondly remembered due to specific industry benchmarks. They’re checkpoints or signposts of evolution, genre-setting models, groundbreaking innovations, and online communities. Classic gaming speaks to games in general, but only insofar as classic gaming represents classic-era games: when it comes down to it, classic gaming is as much about games of yesterday as it is about games of today and tomorrow. Looking forward to gaming’s future means acknowledging its past, and especially its roots.

Ultimately, this shutdown of H2M mod by Activision is, for now, something of a turning point in the ongoing dialogue between the game creators and the community of modders. It remains to be seen how this delicate balance will be struck in the future, between copyright law and the modders’ love for the classics. Game preservation ultimately remains an open question, although one thing is certain: the love for MW2 will continue regardless, along with the shared memories forged in its lobbies, and an appreciation of why the game continues to be remembered – and even revered – 10 years after its release.