In May 2023, Activision’s legal action led two third-party Call of Duty projects to close: SM2, a planned mod for 2009’s Modern Warfare 2, and X Labs, which supported custom clients and servers for Modern Warfare 2, Ghosts, and Advanced Warfare. This was not a blanket shutdown of every legacy Call of Duty server, and neither project was an official Activision service.
What happened to the SM2 and X Labs fan projects?
Ars Technica reported on May 23, 2023, that Activision sent cease-and-desist letters to two prominent fan-client projects. SM2 stopped development before its first public release. About a week later, X Labs, which maintained custom clients and servers for several older Call of Duty games, also shut down. Ars Technica’s May 2023 report quoted the SM2 project account as saying a team member received a cease-and-desist letter on Activision Publishing’s behalf and that the team would comply by shutting down operations permanently.
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Both were independent projects, not official Activision servers. The reported legal action targeted these third-party clients; it does not establish that Activision shut down every official server for the older games.
Which Call of Duty games were affected?
| Project | Games in the May 2023 report | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| SM2 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) | Development ended before the mod’s first public release. |
| X Labs | Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Ghosts, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare | The custom-client and server project shut down about a week after the SM2 news. |
These are the games associated with the two projects in the 2023 report. They should not be confused with every Call of Duty title that has since lost some official online features.
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Why did players use the fan clients?
The clients offered additions and changes such as weapons, perks, redesigned interfaces, killstreak and progression systems, new modes, and quality-of-life improvements. Players also valued X Labs as an alternative to playing some older games on official servers, where hacking and cheating were reported as serious problems.
Modern Warzone, quoted in the Ars Technica report, said the projects helped keep some older Call of Duty games’ player bases active and warned that playing on official services could be unsafe. The report described concerns including being kicked from games, having ranks or unlocked content reset, possible exposure of an IP address, and malicious files being placed on a PC. These were reported warnings, not findings from an independent security test; they do not establish that every official server or every match carried the same risk.
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Did Activision explain why it sent the letters?
Ars Technica reported that Activision had not commented by the time its May 2023 article was published. The available report therefore establishes that the projects received cease-and-desist letters and closed, but not a detailed public explanation from Activision for the action.
Does Activision’s legacy support list mean all old servers are offline?
No. Activision’s Legacy Activision Games page, dated April 30, 2025, lists selected games with “diminished or discontinued services.” It says that, in most cases, online features such as multiplayer and transactions are disabled where applicable, and that listed games no longer receive title updates, patches, or bug fixes. Examples on the list include Black Ops – Zombies, Black Ops and Black Ops II on Wii U, Ghosts on Wii U, and Modern Warfare 3 (2011) on Wii.
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That page documents reduced or discontinued support for the specific listed games and platforms. It is not evidence that every PC or console Call of Duty server was shut down in 2023; the SM2 and X Labs story concerned third-party fan projects.
Can you still play classic Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer safely?
The 2023 reporting does not verify the present operating status or security of every official service or alternative. It also does not establish a currently available, Activision-approved replacement for SM2 or X Labs. A game’s original multiplayer service, a fan-run client, and an official support listing are different things, so check the specific game, platform, and service rather than assuming that one shutdown applies to all versions.
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- GLOBE‑SPANNING CAMPAIGN — Fight across the Korean Peninsula, New York, Paris, and Mumbai in a high‑stakes narrative where global conflict escalates and survival depends on tactical precision.
- MULTIPLAYER BUILT ON CONTROL — Engage in grounded, precise combat where fluid movement, player choice, and refined mechanics give you greater control in every firefight.
- TACTICAL DMZ OPERATIONS — Deploy behind enemy lines as an off‑the‑books asset, making high‑risk decisions on objectives and extraction in a dynamic mode where every run counts.
For context, Ars Technica cited SteamCharts’ figure of 227 average players for Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer over the 30 days preceding its May 2023 article, about 2% of the game’s late-2012 peak. That is a historical Steam average, not a current player count or a measure of today’s safety.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Was Warzone Mobile part of the same shutdown?
No. Activision separately announced on February 16, 2026, that Warzone Mobile servers would go offline on April 17, 2026, saying the game had not met expectations with mobile-first players. That was a first-party service sunset, distinct from the 2023 legal action against third-party fan projects. See Activision’s Warzone Mobile update.
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