The most recent tweet from the Call of Duty League has triggered a plethora of discussions on social media. The official CDL account, through its tweet, suggested that “We’ve got some things to discuss…”, along with a picture, to the Call of Duty community and instantly provoked a large amount of speculation regarding the future of the esports world.
One of the first topics they highlighted was the players’ demand for the radical transformation of the competitive Call of Duty gaming ruleset. If we look at the comment section beneath the tweet, we can notice the intense emotions of the community towards the issue of the improvements. The most liked comment made by the user alumni_cesar merely says: “Ranked play DAY 1!!!!” and mirrors the wish of competitive gamers for instant activation of ranking systems when a new Call of Duty title is released instead of having to wait for months for the competitive features to be deployed.
However, that was just a little glimpse of the players’ demands iceberg. The user razorsedge588 did not really ask but rather posed a multitude of questions: “When will we get rid of franchising, and location-based brands while reviving the old 32-team champs system with open events that involve traditional pool play, open bracket, and 5/7 reset finals?” This inquiry shows and sums up the opinions of discerning hardcore fans and their worries regarding: the community has to deal with the double-edged controversies of the new franchise system or return to the more liberal and thrilling tournaments of the early years of Call of Duty esports marking another potential losing point of attraction for the major audience in the future.
Surprisingly, the current title teaser coincides with the time when we are already in the technology transfer gap between the Call of Duty titles. Black Ops 6 has just been released and the rumors about Black Ops 7 have already started which explains why the majority of the comments are indirectly referring to the next Treyarch project. User Ashib444 voiced his “BO7 EARLY RELEASE PLSðŸ˜ðŸ˜‚ copium” fantasy while likethesquid even went to the extent of just asking for “bo7 info pls”. The fact that players have started to speculate about the next game while the current one still keeps its charm shows the quickness of the Call of Duty cycle nowadays.
Methcree, one of the Zombies enthusiasts, has been quite passionate in this regard by inquiring if there would be “exclusive zombies carry forward?” and Pluto242light even demanding “Pls no multiplayer only zombies” in reply to another comment regarding the content transfer between games. The zombies community has always been quite demanding and tricky with their claims on the mode, hence they very clearly need the reassurance that the mode will still be in the upcoming titles and its use will not be restricted.
Now, the players who are addicted all over the world have begun to speak up about the ongoing issue of the balance between weapon variations in competitive play. Some comments focus on the sniper issue, for instance, SukiiSZN begging for “A 30sec video of Daniel Tsay saying ‘snipers are back'” while another user simply asking “Snipers finally being unbanned?” The sniper rifle debate has been a never-ending story in competitive Call of Duty for years, with various titles and seasons having different rules about whether or not these high-skill weapons should be permitted in professional play.
The representation of the international player base is another burning issue ZataksterGG asking “wen international call of duty league?” and the interaction between various teams such as Miami Heretics and Riyadh Falcons with the tweet being examples. Especially the Riyadh Falcons account emphasized their determination by saying “We will be there no matter what” and then putting a fire emoji, which shows the global interest in whichever announcement is coming.
What is especially intriguing is that the community appears to be somewhat split on some of the fundamental issues. SamuelMuno46532’s “Carry forward bo6 to bo7” suggestion met with user Sweepty_eu’s prompt response that “they won’t do any of it and it’s better so. Let bo7 be its own game.” The divide of players who seek continuity across the games and those who wish every new Call of Duty to be regarded as entirely different has been a dilemma for the developers for many years.
The variety of demands indicates just how many diverse audiences the Call of Duty League has to satisfy. Competitive players wanting improved ranked systems and balance changes, zombies fans worried about their favorite mode, international teams wanting more representation, and casual viewers hoping for better quality of production and more exciting tournaments are just some examples of the audiences. It is almost impossible to try to satisfy every single one of them, but the CDL is likely to have something in their sleeves.
Multiple comments refer to specific cities and events, such as windycityghost_ asking “Chicago major when” and the discussions about tournament formats. The location-based franchise model has been a contentious issue since it came into being, with some PlayStation and Xbox players expressing different preferences.
