Since releasing in March 2020,Call of Duty: Warzonehas proven to be a popular addition to the franchise. Now, Activision plans to bring thehit battle royale modeto the Call of Duty League.
Johanna Faries, Activision’s head of leagues, told Screen Rant about the company’s plans to incorporateCall of Duty: Warzoneinto the Call of Duty League. GivenWarzone’s breakout popularity, this move is hardly surprising.
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The company has yet to share any specific plans for how Activision will incorporateWarzoneand itsdivisive newCold Warcontentinto 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 someWarzonerelated 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.
CallingCall of Duty: Warzonemassively 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 surpassedFortnitein popularity according to a 2020 survey reported on by Yahoo Finance. Activision has had sometrouble incorporating content fromCallof Duty: Cold War, but the game is still going strong in 2021.
Meanwhile,Call of Duty’sprofessional 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 aCall of Dutyesports tournament. However, it is not that much compared to the audiences for esports giants likeCS: GOandLeague of Legends. DespiteCall of Duty’spopularity, CDL is still well behind its biggest competitors. Activision likely hopes thatWarzonewill be the boost the Call of Duty League needs.
The big question now is what exactly Activision has planned forWarzone’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’sFortnitecheating scandalmay have highlighted some flaws in the system.
The addition ofWarzoneis 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 otherchanges to the Call of Duty League’s competitive ruleset.
Call of Duty: Warzoneis available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
