OpTic Gaming CEO calls for changes in next year’s Call of Duty League
This year’s Call of Duty League or CDL is closing into its finale, and both professionals and enthusiasts are gearing up for the final schedule of the third CDL on August 4-7. Seeing how fast the season finale is approaching, OpTic Gaming CEO Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez shared his two cents on what needs to be changed for the upcoming fourth iteration of the grand tournament.
Various esports tournaments are starting to go offline in 2022 after canceled plans and pandemic restrictions in the past years. Despite this, CoD seems to be among the little minority that remains with the online formula and appears to grow fond of it.
Both Activision and Infinity Ward’s decision to employ an online format in this year’s CDL was heavily criticized by H3CZ. He claimed that should the same decision be carried to next year, it would only make it worse for players, fans, and the title as online tournaments pose more technical difficulties.
‘We are over-practisin’ H3CZ says of CDL
Following the news that confirmed the upcoming new CoD title which is set to be the sequel of the 2019 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the game’s enthusiasts are also expecting the new title to bring forth new changes in the current CDL, primarily in the tournament’s showing format.
H3CZ voiced his concerns about the game, explaining that despite being one of the beloved and most established gaming titles in history, CoD’s professional esports scene has been inconsistent with rolling in more LAN tournaments. Instead, the organizer resorted to an online format where problems such as ping, lag, and others are more prominent.
“But, I mean, in this league, how can you make it f**king worse?” H3CZ said in episode 83 of the OpTic Podcast. “We’re playing online Call of Duty, still to this f**king day. We are over-practising… We’re going into season f**king four of this thing.
“If next year there is a single thought or mention or ‘we should do anything online related’, my hand is gonna be raised and I’m gonna say no immediately.”
The 42-year-old also added that prolonged use of online tournaments would likely not work for CDL as other titles have started and gradually launch LAN competitions, saying that “It doesn’t work”. He also compared the CDL organizer to the New York City-based esports organizer, Major League Gaming Corp., whose organized CoD in addition to other titles such as Starcraft II, LoL, Mortal Kombat, and more in the past years.
“I have no patience [for it]. I just don’t want to. It doesn’t work though, the viewership doesn’t work… You know what else Scump? Who the f**k cares how much it costs? We’re the ones paying for it, not the League… So if we as an ownership group want this to not be online we have a hard say on that… How is it that we went backwards from MLG?” he continued.
The CEO then revealed that some members of OpTic ownership group were not biting with his ideas. However, retired CoD professional Matthew “FormaL” Piper alongside current OpTic Texas professional CoD player Seth “Scump” Abner, seems to have agreed with what the CEO has to say.
As the conclusion of the third edition of CDL is fast approaching, it remains unclear what would the fourth iteration offers to the table. However, it is difficult to disagree with H3CZ’s arguments as CoD players and fans are eyeing to share the action together in a LAN format similar to what has been done by other titles this year.
