The professional Call of Duty League moves to PC for the upcoming 2021 season. The official amateur league Call of Duty Challengers goes crossplay and will have players participating from PC or console for the new season.
Call of Duty League Transitions to PC for the 2021 Season
Earlier today, Activision announced the transition of Call of Duty League for the 2021 season to PC. The professional league for the upcoming season will be played on a PC with a controller. The controller which the professional players will use needs to be “League-approved”.
All pro players participating in the matches will have to transition to PC. Activision said that the players can choose from an expanded choice of controllers, allowing them to find the one that best fits their game but at the same time it is League-approved. Activision outlined that additional details regarding peripherals are going to be released soon.
COD’s Amateur League Goes Crossplay
Besides the Call of Duty League which is the professional league, Call of Duty Challengers which is the official amateur league is going crossplay. In other words, players participating in Call of Duty Challengers will be able to do so by choosing from console or PC. Similar to the pro league, only League-approved controllers must be used.
“Mouse and keyboard peripherals will not be allowed,”
reads Activision’s statement
Any LAN matches a part of the Challengers event will be played on PC. Similar to the 2020 season, Activision said that for the 2021 Challengers season dedicated broadcasts are planned. The broadcasts will feature spotlights of top Challengers players of the upcoming season. The company vowed to share more details regarding the Challengers competition rules as well as additional details regarding the broadcasts soon.
A Sudden Move
While online opinions about the sudden change greatly differ, we can honestly say that by switching to PC, the competitive side of Call of Duty may increase its popularity. But this is yet to be determined after the 2021 season passes next year. Some pro-CoD players such as Mark Bryceland found the move of the game to PC to be a positive thing, saying that it will resolve present issues.
In contrast, other professional players have asked online how the fair play going to be safeguarded, given that in PC games there are always cheaters. Although LAN events, in general, may not hold any concerns when it comes to cheating, the greater question that remains is: How is the integrity of CoDL tournaments is going to be ensured? Keeping in mind Activision’s promise to reveal further details soon, we may see an answer to that question too.