A new NetEase Games shooter landed on the internet's radar this week, and the reaction has been anything but quiet. ECC: Redline, billed by NetEase as a "self-developed extreme-sports tactical shooter," dropped its reveal on October 9, and within hours the FPS community had a verdict: this looks a lot like Call of Duty: Warzone.
Here's the thing, the debate that followed says as much about Warzone's current state as it does about ECC: Redline itself.
The comparisons that set the internet off
The moment NetEase's reveal trailer hit YouTube and social media, FPS players started cataloguing the similarities. Gun handling, weapon kick, and movement animations drew immediate Warzone comparisons. The UI layout, sound design, and even the first-person camera blur when dropping from heights all felt recognizable to anyone who has spent time in Verdansk.
One YouTube comment on NetEase's official upload summed up the community's temperature fast: "Warzone + Delta Force + Blood Strike = ECC: Redline." On Reddit, players were blunter, with one calling it a "1-to-1 rip" and another saying NetEase had "straight copied COD even down to the UI and emblems."
Popular FPS account ModernWarzone on X put it plainly: "This looks about as close of a 1:1 rip of Warzone as someone could legally get away with." Content creator Jake Lucky echoed that, calling it "Warzone with player abilities and some blatant CoD rips."
ECC: Redline does add its own layer on top, with characters carrying unique abilities and gadgets. But that addition hasn't been enough to deflect the comparisons.
Why some frustrated Warzone players are actually fine with this
Call of Duty: Warzone launched in March 2020 and hit 30 million players in its first 10 days. The years since have been messier. The battle royale has cycled through maps, reboots, and integration updates, with a large portion of its player base consistently pointing back to the original Verdansk build as the high point. Activision returned to Verdansk in an attempt to recapture that energy, but the response has been mixed at best.
Against that backdrop, a polished-looking free-to-play FPS that plays like peak Warzone, even if it borrowed liberally to get there, is an easier sell than it might otherwise be.
"Close enough, welcome back OG Warzone," one player wrote on X, before adding that ECC: Redline "looks better tbh." Another post captured the sentiment more directly: "If ECC: Redline actually has good servers, movement, AND listens to its community, COD might finally have to start trying again."
One user admitted they "LEGIT thought it was WZ at first" because they hadn't checked the title. That confusion is either a damning critique or the highest possible compliment, depending on how you feel about where Warzone currently sits.
NetEase's track record with familiar-looking games
This is not the first time NetEase has found itself at the center of a clone conversation. Marvel Rivals, its comic book hero shooter, drew Overwatch comparisons almost immediately after its 2024 launch, though Blizzard's own developers publicly acknowledged the competition rather than pursuing legal action. The situation with Hyper Front went differently: Riot Games filed a lawsuit against NetEase, claiming the 5v5 tactical shooter was a Valorant clone.
ECC: Redline sits somewhere between those two cases in terms of community reaction. The comparisons are louder and more specific than what Marvel Rivals faced, but there is no indication Activision has taken any formal action.
What comes next for Project 8 and ECC: Redline
NetEase has been developing Project 8 as the internal codename for this title before the ECC: Redline branding went public. The game is targeting both PC via Steam and mobile platforms, which positions it to reach a wide audience if the launch execution holds up.
Meanwhile, Warzone is set to receive a wave of updates tied to the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launch later this month, which gives Activision a direct window to respond to the competitive pressure, intentional or not, that ECC: Redline is generating.
For players who have been waiting for something that recaptures the feel of early Warzone, ECC: Redline is now on the wishlist. Whether the final product delivers on what the reveal suggested is the only question that matters now. If you want to stay across the latest in gaming news and new releases, the gaming guides hub keeps you covered as this story develops.
