Activision Announces Call of Duty World League

As gaming as a hobby grows, so too does gaming as a sport. Call of Duty has always had a presence in the eSports scene, and a fairly big one at that--but it was never quite able to compete with other eSport giants, such as Starcraft 2, League of Legends, Street Fighter, or more troubling, Counter-Strike… a game that came out fifteen years ago and is still considered the one to beat for competitive eSports. That must feel as awkward for Activision as Nintendo feels when Melee is still played after two sequels have come out.

Fortunately, Activision has no plans to sit on its hands, or let its less-than-sizeable portion of the eSports pie go to waste, as it has recently announced a brand-new eSports league--Call of Duty: World League.
 

“Over the last four years, Call of Duty has grown into a global eSports phenomenon, thanks in large part to events like the Call of Duty Championship and in-game features like CODcasting, League Play, and more. Now, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 set to make its debut on November 6 and Call of Duty eSports bigger than ever, the time has come to take competitive Call of Duty to the next level. Today, we’re excited to announce the formation of the Call of Duty World League—a worldwide eSports league operated by Activision.”

It works much as the same way as the LCS does--breaking up different regions and hosting different ‘leagues’ who compete, battling up the ranks until they go head-to-head with other teams for the title of world champions.

The new league will kick off January of next year, and to sweeten the Pot, Activision has tripled the amount of winnings teams could potentially win, from one million to three million. Not bad! I have to say, I’m not completely convinced this will be ‘enough’ to really catapult Activision to a top eSports provider, but it’s certainly a strong step in that direction, especially if they market matches with the same enthusiasm they’ve marketed this. We’ll have to see next year to be sure, though!

Something to look forward too!