Activision shifts COD Esports League to PC

To an outsider, finding out that the Call of Duty Esports League, one of the biggest competitive gaming events, is played on a PlayStation may come as a shock. Yet, Activision has made it work, but now they are shifting their model and focusing on PC as the preferred gaming platform.

With Treyarch developing Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, interest in the game has soared once again. After all, Treyarch are one of the most successful companies that have been tasked with the development of the CoD franchise.

Together with Infinity Ward, the game has been alive for generations now, and nothing seems to change that. Well, nothing is an overstatement. Activision is now bringing the COD Esports League to PC in a bid to expand the game’s competitive reach.

Time for a Change in the Call of Duty League

The bastion of the Call of Duty has long been none other than consoles. PlayStation has become a quintessential example of a preferred platform among players. While to PC gamers it may seem counter-intuitive to see anyone try to play a First Person Shooter (FPS) from a console, the Call of Duty’s competitive pull has been strong on console.

So much that in fact, the only format allowed for the game in a competitive setting has for a long time now been the console version. However, there is hope that the franchise will see a massive interest on PC now that Activision is bringing the COD Esports League to PC, according to GamblingNews.

Why the switch towards a PC format, though? There is a simple explanation for that, but it must factor a few recent developments. First off, Treyarch are clearly the most original CoD developer of their time.

They have come up with zombies and send fans roaring with joy in both BO and BO 2. The studio has been entrusted with the most ambitious changes the game has seen, adding for a rather exciting overall experience.

However, it was Infinity Ward who showed how the game can be scaled up quite massively. Infinity Ward came up with the battle royale mode for Call of Duty, although, if you asked the studio, they would never call Warzone a battle royale game.

Either way, amassing population happened under the keen eye of Infinity. Now though, Activision will rely on Treyarch’s innate originality to bring the 2021 Call of Duty League format to PC, an ambitious shift which will also require from existing powerhouses to adjust their play styles, but also welcome many new competitive organizations.

A Few Things about Peripherals You Should Know

Bringing the game to a PC is definitely not a bad idea. It would empower its player base, make it more accessible around the world, and surprisingly not allow you to compete with a mouse and keyboard.

As things stand, Activision would have specific controllers issued for league play and would allow its players to only use these for the 2021 season. That move makes a lot of sense. Players would feel out of their depth if they had to shift to a PC completely and right away, seeing the best Call of Duty teams crumble completely.

Most PC purists argue that there is no way that a console player may gain an advantage playing against an evenly-matched PC player. Yet, games such as PUBG, Fortnite and even Titanfall invite people to try.

Back in 2014, which is not the most recent example, we witnessed a Titanfall console player destroy any PC player in his way. That was a good enough argument that skill can be translated from one platform to the next, and sure enough, there are certain aspects of the gaming experience that make it possible to be equally skilled across many platforms.

For example, response time and reflexes are just the same, albeit adjusting yourself to a different controller has a learning period associated with it. Yet, popular wisdom goes that if you are a top-ranked Call of Duty team, you won’t have any trouble adjusting your gameplay.

Well, Activision aren’t leaving anything to chance and the developers have agreed to let players a catch-up period, which is nice.

More Changes to Consider, Including Formats

Of course, there have been a few false starts. Treyarch has confirmed that it would keep the competitive format as 4 versus 4 in 2021, which has prompted many teams to release players en masses.

Dropping professional players can definitely be a blow to the competitive community. With each franchised slot in the league costing millions to buy, Activision hasn’t got the most grassroots friendly league to offer a merit-based entry to players.

Yet, the big focus right now will not be on bringing many more teams in the competitive gaming community, but rather to transition successfully. PC is the defining platform when it comes to competitive gaming, and this seems to be the consensus between most people.

Transitioning the league would be step one in a massive expansion for the game that definitely deserves to have bigger prize pools and tends to have the player base for it. There are 50 million CoD players in the world right now, which is probably more than Dota 2’s own player base.

However, games such as League of Legends have 115 million players and Fortnite boasts some 350 million players, which is impressive.

The Feeder League Can Use a Boost

Activision can definitely make it so that grassroots competitors who show merit can break into the Call of Duty League. Of course, this would mean that an organization needn’t pay the hefty franchising fee, which is counter-intuitive.

Yet, the company can be doing a lot to make it possible for promising players to find an environment where their skills will be appreciated. If anything, the most successful games today have all grown organically and from a grassroots movement.

While selling a slot for $50 million definitely sounds good, catching up to Fortnite’s numbers may be better!