Activision-Blizzard to bring franchising to Call of Duty esports

Steven Rondina Published 18/02/2019

The competitive Call of Duty scene will soon look very different.

During its Q4 2018 earnings conference call, Activision-Blizzard confirmed plans to roll out a franchised league for the Call of Duty series of games. The announcement confirmed enduring rumors about a change to the competitive Call of Duty landscape.

As it stands, the current Call of Duty World League requires teams to compete for a spot at a series of qualifying events. Teams that make the cut then compete in ensuing tournaments to earn Pro Points that determine the seeding for World League events, with the season culminating with CWL Pro League Playoffs.

A transition to a franchised league would provide more security to organizations invested in Call of Duty, and should also provide greater continuity over time.

The move likely stems from the success of Overwatch League.

In 2017, Blizzard rebuilt the competitive scene for its popular hero shooter with a model similar to traditional sports leagues. Instead of turning to third-party tournament organizers and teams, Blizzard took complete control of professional Overwatch and sold spaces in the league for tens of millions of dollars. This attracted such established esports brands as Cloud9 and OpTic Gaming, but also the ownership groups of NFL teams like the New England Patriots’ Kraft Group and the Los Angeles Rams’ Kroenke Sports & Entertainment.

According to the call, the league would likely adopt a similar model, offering franchises for city-based teams. No other details were announced, but ESPN reported last year that Activision-Blizzard is required to first approach the owners of established Overwatch League teams for potential Call of Duty franchises.

Most of the esports organizations that own an Overwatch League team already have a Call of Duty roster, including Seoul Dynasty owners Gen.G and Toronto Defiant owners Splyce.

The 2019 season of the Call of Duty World League is already underway. More details may surface at the Pro League Playoffs, which will likely take place in August.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

View full profile

Read Also

Kick

Kick’s Eddie Craven Addresses Ongoing KPP Complaints and Viewbotting Khizar Mundia Several Kick streamers have taken to social media to publicly air their grievances about their KPP apparently being reduced. Kick director Ethan Wright recently responded to the complaints, and now Eddie Craven has also discussed the issue for creators. Stake-backed livestreaming platform Kick has made its place in the industry, in large part because of its higher revenue potential. While there have been one-off incidents where Kick has been criticized ...

Fortnite

Leaks Suggest That a Fortnite X One Piece Collaboration May Be Coming Hannan Mundia Fortnite has collaborated with all sorts of franchises over the years, but a potentially leaked collaboration with One Piece may be the largest yet. When it comes to games collaborating with known IPs, it’s borderline impossible to compete with Fortnite. The battle royale game has some insane collaborations under its belt, including one with Kingdom Hearts when the Square Enix IP’s popularity is at an all-time high. However, if recent ...

Kick

FaZe Banks Thinks N3on’s AI Clone Could Be Worth $100M — How AI Is Changing Streaming Khizar Mundia Rangesh “N3on” Mutama may have received widespread backlash following his decision to use an AI model for certain content, but FaZe boss Richard “Banks” Bengtson has compared the streamer to legendary TikToker Khaby Lame. N3on was recently in the limelight after viewers noticed that a GTA 6 streamer NPC resembles him. The Kick streamer wasted no time in recreating the GTA 6 Netflix Extended Look in an IRL livestream, and ...

Twitch

Twitch Is Testing An AI Stream Coach — Here’s How It Works Khizar Mundia Amazon-backed livestreaming platform Twitch is testing a new feature that will act as an AI coach for streamers, giving them personalized feedback to improve. Twitch has been playing around with several experimental features to improve things for its users. One of these includes auto clips, which was a feature that would automatically generate clips from the best moments of a stream. Another is AI-generated summaries of what happened in a ...

Twitch

Kai Cenat Talks Streamer University, Vivet, and Streaming Future Khizar Mundia Kai Cenat recently sat down with The New York Times for an interview. In a wide-ranging discussion, the Twitch streamer talked about what he looks for in Streamer University participants, and also delved into both his Vivet brand, as well as what the future holds. Kai Cenat may have gone on a break following his massively successful Mafiathon 3, but the creator returned with with a bang in Streamer University ...

League of Legends

Riot Games eyes Polymarket and Kalshi for esports sponsorships Michael Hassall Riot Games, the creator of League of Legends and VALORANT is reportedly exploring the protentional of sponsorship deals with prediction market operators including Polymarket and Kalshi, as per reports emerging late last night (Sep. 10). First reported by Cecilia D’Anastasio of Bloomberg, Riot has started conversations with the two top prediction market operators, Kalshi and Polymarket, with a view to one or both of them becoming sponsors within Riot Games’ ...

Slots

This Is How Gates of Olympus 2500 Builds On The Iconic Series Ian John Since the first Gates of Olympus slot hit casinos in 2021, the series has evolved into one of the most recognisable in the Pragmatic Play stable. The combination of scatter wins, tumbling symbols and dramatic multipliers has established a formula that has been followed in a number of sequels and spin-offs. The latest in that series is the Gates of Olympus 2500 slot, but this game takes a slightly more ...