Gen. G will not participate in the upcoming CDL season

Activision shocked the world when they announced the new model for the competitive Call of Duty scene. The model, mirroring that of the popular , would make teams purchase spots in the league, establish homes in cities across the globe and provide security for the players. Not everybody has taken to this change very well, and some of the top teams are opting out of the new format. On September 6th, an announcement has been made. Gen. G will not participate in the 2020 season despite a successful 2019 campaign that included “two top-2 major finishes”.

In the post, Gen. G references that “this is likely not the final chapter for Gen.G in Call of Duty”, and that they are “doing everything we can to help our players and coach find their new homes in the League”.

More Teams out of the upcoming CDL season

Along with Gen. G, heavy hitter 100 Thieves, and the surprising Team Reciprocity have confirmed they will not be participating either. On the other hand, teams like eUnited and Faze have been hesitant to announce their next step.

As for the reasons why, well the list is long. A reported $25 million entry fee to the league is a daunting challenge. Many of these teams can’t financially afford it. The upcoming season is an inaugural season for Activision’s new format and many teams don’t want to risk jumping into a system that hasn’t been proven yet. Other established esports titles can fill in the void until the CDL proves itself.

A major deciding factor to look at is Activision might apply the same rule set to the CDL that they’ve used in the OWL. This is according to the notorious CoDBurner. Teams might have to re-brand to fit into this new format losing the identity they’ve worked so hard to establish.

Another factor is content creation, at least for the players, would be limited meaning no streaming during events. What works for Overwatch might not work for Call of Duty.

A lot of these teams will skip this season to survey how the new League performs. However, will the League still maintain its hype factor without Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag’s 100 Thieves or if Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez’s Optic Gaming team doesn’t make any rosters? With nine confirmed teams, it looks like a lot of teams are banking on this venture being a success. The news will come soon enough. A lot of criticism has been issued following a “mistake” made by the Call of Duty franchise in the 2020 CDL season.

Credit: John Esposito