Call of Duty esports on the brink? Professional scene sounds the alarm

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Call of Duty CDL

 

Activision wants to bring CoD esports to the big time with the CDL. So far, however, the league has remained under the radar. Now two former CoD pros have put their foot down

After Activision made the Call of Duty League its own franchise league at the start of the 2020 season, many thought things would change for the better in the competitive scene. After all, teams had to pay 25 million dollars for a place in the league. But the development seems to have stagnated.

Esports are just a side business

Ever since the release of Call of Duty: Ghosts in November 2013, the developer’s tournaments and leagues have lacked appeal. 2022 marks the third year of the Call of Duty League (CDL). From 4 February, the twelve teams will once again regularly compete against each other online. Once again, however, the season begins late after the actual release of the current game and the hype has long since fizzled out. There is little anticipation for the competition. On Twitch, too, viewers are not exactly taken with the latest spin-off, Call of Duty: Vanguard.

Fortunately, a multi-million dollar company is behind the franchise and has enough resources to take the problems to heart and respond to the community. At least one would think so.

As with any commercial enterprise, developers place a high value on sales figures. The competitive scene thus takes a back seat. For this reason, the game is always adapted for the casual player first. Professionals are further down the priority list.

 

H3CZ and Nadeshot criticise Activision

Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez, CEO of OpTic Gaming, and Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag, CEO of 100 Thieves, are arguably two of the most well-known esports personalities in the world. Their organisations are also represented in the Call of Duty League. Just recently, the two met on Twitch and discussed the current situation in the scene.

Both are convinced that there are a lot of construction sites in Call of Duty esports. The competitive season only starts three months after the actual release and there is no launch event. So players have no chance to try out the competitive environment early on, spectators have no chance of interesting content and sponsors have no chance to present themselves. In the time until the start of the real season, there are no regular tournaments and no one has the opportunity to test themselves competitively.

Many of the changes Activision wanted to tackle with the formation of the franchise have not been followed through to date. So was the stronger and early focus on competitive aspects in the game. The integrated league mode was again not available at release. To date, there is no such ranked play mode in Call of Duty: Vanguard. Nadeshot would like to see the competitive mode integrated into the game from the very beginning in the future and not focus exclusively on newcomers.

Each of the twelve participating teams paid a sum of 25 million dollars for a place in the Call of Duty Franchise League. However, the league is characterised by tournament structures and formats that make it difficult for new challengers to participate in the competition. Teams from the subordinate league “CDL Challengers” have no chance to prove themselves against the top teams due to the franchising.

Players have responsibilities too

But it’s not just the developers themselves who are in debt. Nadeshot also partially criticises players who have become too complacent and don’t offer the scene the necessary support to develop further. Seth “Scump” Abner is one of the few players who regularly provides content for his fans. However, he too has already had to switch to Warzone.

The reason for this is the lack of content opportunities around Call of Duty: Vanguard. Players spend most of their time in scrims practising new tactics and line-ups. These do not lend themselves very well to streams. The pros are hardly challenged in public game modes. These are therefore also less likely to be considered.

The situation is difficult because forcing players to produce content to maintain attention around the Call of Duty League is not the right approach. The players have to realise on their own that they are an important part of the scene and can make a huge contribution. Moreover, streams and the like are an attractive additional source of income.

Currently, the ratio between players’ salaries and what is earned through live productions is disproportionate. Match days with less than 10,000 spectators are an embarrassment for a league of this size. In order for the whole framework not to collapse completely, something urgently needs to change in the future.

What does the future hold for COD esports?

The Call of Duty franchise is now 18 years old and there has been little to no improvement in sight for quite some time. According to H3CZ, even the latest spin-off Call of Duty: Vanguard is about 50% short of success. A second half that is complementary to the current content and ensures that long-term appeal and more opportunities for content production are created.

Tournament structures need to be revamped to allow new motivated players to enter the pro bubble. Tournaments need to be held more regularly, at best on a weekly or monthly basis. In addition, the rights to organise tournaments should not be distributed to any number of providers. Centralisation on one platform is recommended. H3CZ mentions Faceit here, which has already offered a competitive platform to many other shooters in the past.

Public discussions surrounding the current state of Call of Duty in esports have already made waves. For example, according to Mike “hastr0” Rufail, owner of Team Envy and CGO at OpTic Gaming, there has already been a crisis meeting where the league leadership spoke to the teams. So it seems that things could change for the better in the future.