Call of Duty’s First City-Based League to Begin Home vs. Away Match Play in Early 2020
SANTA MONICA,
Calif.–Oct. 18, 2019– Today, Activision Blizzard Esports officially reveals
details for the new Call of Duty® League™. The League is scheduled to begin
home-vs-away 5-versus-5 professional match play in early 2020 with 12 teams in
Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Florida, London, Los Angeles (2), Minnesota, New
York, Paris, Seattle, and Toronto, in addition to select League-run major
events throughout the season.
Each team in the league
will host two ‘Home Series’ weekend events in their respective markets in 2020,
one in a spring split and a second in a summer split. Multiple pro teams will
compete at each Home Series event, giving fans a wide range of must-see
competition throughout the weekend. In between the spring and summer
splits, the League will host a special Call of Duty League™ Midseason Weekend
event where all 12 teams will be featured in special all-pro tournaments and
more.
Professional regular
season competition will feature best-of-five-matches series played in Call
of Duty®: Modern Warfare on Playstation®4. Pro teams with the best
win-loss records will advance to the postseason, where they will compete in a
double elimination Playoffs until the season champion is crowned. Playoff
berths will include 2 wild card slots, and both the Playoffs and Championship
matches will take place at the Call of Duty League™ Championship Weekend in
Summer 2020.
In addition to pro play,
the League will continue to foster the growth and development of emerging
player talent with Call of Duty Challengers™, its amateur path to pro
competition system. Call of Duty Challengers will include online ladders,
online tournaments, and open tournament event competitions throughout the year
beginning in November 2019, with a dedicated prize pool of over $1 million.
Several Call of Duty League pro teams will also support amateur player pipeline
development by hosting Call of Duty Challengers competitions in their markets.
More details regarding amateur events can be found on CallofDutyLeague.com.
Fans will also be able
to compete on behalf of their cities, in a new, casual competition system
called the Call of Duty League City Circuit™. In the City Circuit, fans can
compete on behalf of their favorite pro team cities through online or LAN
(local area network) tournaments held exclusively by the 12 Call of Duty League
teams. This fan-focused competitive circuit – set to launch later in 2020 –
will feature a duos-based format in the Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare mode
“Gunfight.” Call of Duty League City Circuit carries its own prize pool and
will culminate in a finals event at the Call of Duty League Championship
Weekend.
Call of Duty League’s
vision is to engage fans in dynamic ways across all 12 team markets and beyond.
Home Series Weekends will showcase the best Call of Duty esports players in the
world as well as the unique energy and passion of teams’ local fanbases.
“It is an honor to
introduce the Call of Duty League, built to reimagine what esports can be,”
said Johanna Faries, Commissioner of the Call of Duty League. “We’ve partnered
with top-tier organizations who share our commitment to supporting the best
players in the world and to entertain fans in unique ways. Together, we seek to
bring incredible experiences to our pro, amateur, and fan communities, and to
blaze new trails for the future of sports entertainment.”
The full roster of
cities and ownership groups are:
- Atlanta, GA – Atlanta Esports Ventures, a joint venture owned by Cox
Enterprises and Province, Inc.
- Chicago, IL – NRG Esports
- Dallas, TX – Envy Gaming, Inc.
- Florida – Misfits Gaming
- London, United Kingdom – ReKTGlobal, Inc
- Los Angeles, CA – Immortals Gaming Club (IGC)
- Los Angeles, CA – Kroenke Sports & Entertainment
- Minnesota – WISE Ventures
- New York, NY – Sterling.VC
- Paris, France – c0ntact Gaming
- Seattle, WA – The Aquilini Group
- Toronto, Canada – OverActive Media
For more information on
the new Call of Duty League, visit callofdutyleague.com.
About Call of Duty
League
Call of Duty® League™ is
the official esports league of the Call of Duty franchise, from publisher
Activision. The inaugural season of Call of Duty League includes 12 teams from
four countries and spotlights the best Call of Duty esports players from around
the world. Call of Duty League launches in 2020, and will feature fresh ways
for pro players, amateurs, and fans to come together around one of the world’s
most beloved games.
About Activision
Blizzard Esports
Activision Blizzard
Esports (ABE) is responsible for the development, operation, and
commercialization of Activision Blizzard’s professional gaming properties
including the Overwatch League™, the Call of Duty® League™, Call of Duty Challengers™,
Hearthstone Masters, the StarCraft II World Championship Series, and the World
of Warcraft Arena World Championship and Mythic Dungeon International, among
others. ABE also operates Tespa, the leader in collegiate esports. It is ABE’s
vision to be the most innovative, scalable, and valuable developer of global
competitive entertainment.
About Activision
Headquartered in Santa
Monica, California, Activision is a leading global producer and publisher of
interactive entertainment. Activision maintains operations throughout the world
and is a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), an S&P 500
company. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the
company’s website, www.activision.com or by following @Activision.
# # #
©2019 Activision
Publishing, Inc. CALL OF DUTY, MODERN WARFARE and CALL OF DUTY LEAGUE are
trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade
names are the properties of their respective owners.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking
Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision
Blizzard’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future,
including statements about ticket availability and the dates, features and
locations and the features of the Call of Duty League, are forward-looking
statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties.
Factors that could cause Activision Blizzard’s actual future results to differ
materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in
this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified
in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report
on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The
forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available
to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this
release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any
obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect.
These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision
Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and
other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual
results to differ materially from current expectations.