Is Call of Duty Mobile shutting down? Microsoft hint at "phasing out" the game after Warzone Mobile's release

Microsoft recently shed light on the future of Call of Duty Mobile after the release of Warzone Mobile in response to the Competition and Markets Authority's remedies of divestment over their anticipated acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

In a written response to the notice of possible remedies by the United Kingdom's CMA, the technology giant expressed that the proposed remedies would be inappropriate. Moreover, the company explained that it wouldn't be practical to carve out multiple games by Activision Blizzard from the divestment perimeter.

They provided specific reasons for each case, including Call of Duty Mobile. Unfortunately, their justification for the popular title has disheartened fans across the world.

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Call of Duty Mobile expected to be phased out for Warzone Mobile

In response to CMA's Remedies Notice, the technology company inadvertently disclosed that "Call of Duty Mobile is expected to be phased out over time (outside China) with the launch of Warzone Mobile."

Microsoft stated that COD Mobile will likely be phased out (Image via Microsoft's response to CMA)

Since several other details have been redacted from this section, the reason for phasing out the popular title isn't entirely evident. Nonetheless, the statement further mentions that the game is developed and owned by TiMi Studios, a subsidiary of Tencent, and thus, it can be expected that this could be one of the contributing factors as well.

At the same time, it's crucial to emphasize that Activision has yet to officially clarify the situation about the future of Call of Duty Mobile. Players have been left with numerous questions and concerns ever since this written response came to light and are eagerly waiting for the publishers to clear the air.

Call of Duty Mobile has successfully attracted an audience worldwide with its engaging content, modes, and thriving esports ecosystem. On the other hand, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is currently available in limited release in Australia, while pre-registrations for other regions are underway and the number has already crossed 25 million.

Microsoft and Activision deal

Microsoft announced the deal in January 2022 (Images via Microsoft and Activision Blizzard)

The technology giant Microsoft announced their plans to acquire Activision Blizzard in an all-cash deal for $95 per share, which set it at a value of $68.7 billion in early 2022. However, this transaction is yet to close as this merger is under investigation by the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) since September 2022.

They believe the deal will be detrimental to gamers across the country and will result in substantially lessening competition in multiple sectors, including cloud gaming services and console gaming. Earlier last month, the regulatory body published its provisional findings on the merger, suggesting several remedies.

Divestment remedies (Image via CMA/Provisional Findings)

The report stated that "certain divestitures and/or prohibitions are, in principle, feasible remedies in this case," further identifying the possible structural remedies. The Competition and Markets Authority primarily identified two possible structural remedies, i.e., prohibition of merger and second partial divestiture of a part of Activision.

As per this suggestion, the latter may include divestiture business associated with Call of Duty, the Activision segment of Activision Blizzard, or the Activision segment and Blizzard segment. As stated earlier, these have been deemed as inappropriate by Microsoft.