This coming weekend will be the first Call of Duty Black Ops 4 LAN tournament since the game was released. While I have not played much of the game for many reasons, I have enjoyed it much more than prior Call of Duty games. I have also loved watching the tournaments more and more as they have become great events from a sports fan perspective. The last two years, despite the Call of Duty games not being up to par with previous ones, the competitive landscape has become more interesting to observe. Given the increase in popularity of eSports in general, the production of the events have been awesome experiences for fans and gamers in general.
The tournament will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Hard Rock Hotel from December 7th thru the 9th. This year will be interesting as there have been a number of interesting changes for the league. For the first time in the Call of Duty pro scene, teams will now consist of five players instead of the traditional four we have seen in the past. They have also instituted a new game mode for the tournament called Control. This is in addition to the now traditional Search & Destroy and Hardpoint game modes that have been fan favorites for years now.
This tournament’s pool prize will be $250,000 which continues to show the interest in the growth of the eSports industry as of late. It is now more usual to see these larger pool prizes as sponsors have continued to back the events given their popularity. This event will follow similar structures from the past in that there will be an open bracket which will then lead into pool play of 20 teams. After pool play, a winners bracket of eight teams will move on for the championship.
Since the end of the last Call of Duty many roster changes have occurred and this will be the first time seeing them all in an official tournament which is exciting as players have tended to nor be consistent between games. In addition, we have seen many new eSport organizations join the ranks of the pro scene this year which will always lead to the rise of new players and the fall of veterans.
I am looking forward to a weekend of gaming and watching eSports!
Thanks!