China’s free-to-play Call of Duty Online launches new logo, trailer, and maps in new round of beta

The rest of the world may be getting pumped up for the dudebro fragfest that Call of Duty: Ghosts is sure to be, but China’s still waiting on its own special version of the global hit franchise. Call of Duty Online, a free-to-play collaboration between COD publisher Activision and Chinese publisher Tencent, announced a new logo (pictured above) and launched the latest round of its closed-beta testing, which reportedly includes three “new” maps and characters as well as gameplay tweaking and optimizations. The advertising campaign for the game is also ramping up with a new trailer.

There doesn’t seem to be a way for the general public to get in on the closed beta just yet, but no one will have to wait too long, as the game is scheduled to begin public beta a little over a month from now on November 29.

Whether or not Chinese gamers will be excited to play it may be a question worth asking, though. It’s not clear yet exactly how Tencent will monetize the game, but the company is known for being heavy-handed, and there’s not much in Call of Duty Online that’s new. As I pointed out during the last round of internal testing the maps in the game are ripped from previous Call of Duty games. The three “new” maps in this latest build are reportedly all from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, a game that came out in 2007. In fact, the only “new” thing I can see in the trailer above is the apparent lack of blood compared to the original games.

Still, perhaps the lure of fast domestic servers and Tencent’s slick marketing machine will be enough to lure in COD fans who might otherwise be bored with Call of Duty Online‘s lack of fresh content. Only time will tell.

(via Tencent Games)