In news beyond the impending launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Activision has announced the “Call of Duty League“. This new league will be an official esports tournament for Call of Duty; featuring 12 professional teams from around the world, and a prize pool of over $6 million. Activision, it seems, is preparing to move into the esports market in a major way next year.
The Official Call of Duty League
“The Call of Duty League launches in 2020,” explains Activision; “The official esports league of the Call of Duty franchise features 12 professional teams – representing 11 markets across North America and Europe – competing in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer matches. The professional competition will travel from city to city, featuring the best Call of Duty esports players from around the globe battling for over $6 million and the ultimate prize: The Call of Duty League Championship.”
This decision is likely to catapult Call of Duty very rapidly to the forefront of the esports arena. A $6 million prize pool is significantly larger than those of most other previous competitions, even those well-established in esports. CS:GO, for example, has never had a tournament prize pool larger than $1.5 million. Meanwhile, the 2018 League of Legends World Championship featured a prize pool of around $4.3 million. With such a prize up for grabs, Activision will no doubt be able to attract the top talent with ease. However, it also serves as a clear indication of how much Activision is willing to invest in its esports endeavours.
The decision to have the tournament travel “from city to city” also indicates that Activision will invest heavily in marketing and event promotion; after all, they will need to attract large audiences both online and at their tournament events. Now that the League has been announced, fans should expect to hear more about the competition after the release of Modern Warfare later this month.