Since releasing in March 2020, Call of Duty: Warzone has proven to be a popular addition to the franchise. Now, Activision plans to bring the hit battle royale mode to the Call of Duty League.
Johanna Faries, Activision’s head of leagues, told Screen Rant about the company’s plans to incorporate Call of Duty: Warzone into the Call of Duty League. Given Warzone’s breakout popularity, this move is hardly surprising.
The company has yet to share any specific plans for how Activision will incorporate Warzone and its divisive new Cold War content into the existing Call of Duty League. However, Faries stated that an official announcement is not far off. She explains that Activision introduced the teams to some Warzone related content last season. They’ve spent the offseason planning a larger, more structured rollout. Faries added, “There are really exciting things to come as early as this season.” With the 2021 season set to begin on February 11, fans may not have to wait long for more news.
Calling Call of Duty: Warzone massively successful might be an understatement. The hit battle royale mode pulled in more than thirty million players and hundreds of millions of dollars in its first two weeks. It even surpassed Fortnite in popularity according to a 2020 survey reported on by Yahoo Finance. Activision has had some trouble incorporating content from Call of Duty: Cold War, but the game is still going strong in 2021.
Meanwhile, Call of Duty’s professional League, while profitable, is still finding its feet. According to Forbes, the 2020 Championships peaked at around 331,000 viewers, which was a record-breaking number for a Call of Duty esports tournament. However, it is not that much compared to the audiences for esports giants like CS: GO and League of Legends. Despite Call of Duty’s popularity, CDL is still well behind its biggest competitors. Activision likely hopes that Warzone will be the boost the Call of Duty League needs.
The big question now is what exactly Activision has planned for Warzone’s esports debut. They may use a format similar to the pro league of another successful battle royale, Fortnite. The Fortnite Champion Series began in 2019 and is the most popular battle royale league. Each FNCS season takes place over multiple weekly tournaments, ending in a championship to determine the winner from each of the seven regions. Activision likely has its own plans in place, but partially emulating the FNCS format might not be the worst idea. Then again, last year’s Fortnite cheating scandal may have highlighted some flaws in the system.
The addition of Warzone is not the only significant change coming in the 2021 season. The biggest is a switch from competitors using PS4s to PCs with controllers. The League is also switching to four vs. four matches in addition to other changes to the Call of Duty League’s competitive ruleset.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Screen Rant, Forbes, Yahoo Finance
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