The Call of Duty esports scene isn’t in the best place, that much is for certain. In the last year or two, Activision has tried to shape up the ecosystem a little and has made some positive changes, but prize pools are getting lower, viewership has taken some hits, and Black Ops 6 is currently in the gutter – just a little bit.
During a recent stream, some of the most prolific OpTic personalities, including Scump, Methodz, and Crimsix, sat around the fireplace to talk about the state of COD esports.
‘You Can Actually Make Money’
Scump dropped a bombshell (admittedly a somewhat obvious one) by stressing that if he were trying to become an esports pro all over again right now, he wouldn’t pick Call of Duty as his game:
If I was an 18 year right now, or 16, or whatever age you’re starting in gaming and I was trying to pursue being a professional in a video game, Call of Duty would not even be on my radar.
Methodz echoed Scump’s sentiment, stressing that the Call of Duty scene’s minimum age requirement is too much of a blocker that’s potentially preventing young superstars from finding a spot in the CDL.
I’ve been saying to go play Fortnite.
I’m saying, listen bro – unfortunately… This is crazy to me, the age limit…
The fact it’s still an 18 age limit – I was a pro at 14. Like, there’s a lot of 14 to 18 year olds that would probably turn some heads that just can’t play. But I’m like, dude, if you’re 15, why the f*** would you be grinding COD?
Go play Fortnite, you can actually make money in that.
In the current system, pro players can’t enter the Call of Duty League until they’re 18 years old. It’s not mirrored in every other esports title, of course. For instance, Counter-Strike’s ‘donk’ just turned 18 this weekend and spent the last year becoming known as one of the best players in the business, racking up some mind-boggling achievements in his debut year.
The OpTic guys say that there are so many competing titles in the esports space that Call of Duty shouldn’t even be on your list of potential targets. Do you agree? Let us know on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming esports, check out the surprise announcement from Valve for Counter-Strike
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