Activision is always up for a challenge when it comes to its Call of Duty franchise, so what better way to see who’s the best eSports players out there than to launch a massive tournament?
The company has announced that it is teaming up with Microsoft for the Call of Duty Championship, a tournament with a $1 million bounty that will take place in Hollywood, CA from April 5-7. 32 teams from around the world will compete to see who’s the master of battle, with the tournament – in its entirety – being streamed for the masses to watch.
“More people play Call of Duty multiplayer every day than watch the average regular season game of the NBA. The scale and passion of the Call of Duty fan base is simply humbling, and yet there is no formal way to find out who amongst those millions of players is the best of the best, until now,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “Watching the performances of the very best Call of Duty players is already a mass spectator sport on YouTube and Call of Duty Elite. We are going to bring the best players in the world to Hollywood to compete on the ultimate stage, for the ultimate prize. And we are going to invite our entire worldwide fan base to join in the fun.”
Players can register over at https://elite.callofduty.com/esports and get together a team of four for entry, and then compete throughout February for League Play in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, with matches starting today. The top eight eligible teams will then get coveted spots for the tournament, including the trip to Hollywood.
“It’s an absolute honor to have players and fans celebrate the thrill of competition on such a grand stage,” said Mark Lamia, Treyarch studio head. “From the very beginning of development for Call of Duty: Black Ops II, we committed to making eSports an integral part of the game, and it’s going to be awesome to watch the best teams in the world battle it out for everyone to see.”
Good luck to everyone – it’s going to be a wild tournament.
Published: Feb 1, 2013 03:26 pm