Shroud thinks Call of Duty "lacks depth" to become one of the biggest esports in the world

Popular content creator and streamer Shroud is back with some strong criticism of Call of Duty. Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek is a former CS2 professional player renowned for his sharp aim in FPS games. He is also recognized for his bold statements within the FPS gaming community, including his many notable remarks about CoD and concurrent events in the gaming industry.

During a recent stream of him playing Battlefield 2042, Shroud said this about the state of CoD esports:

"Call of Duty on paper, because of how successful that game is, should be one of the biggest esports in the world; the main reason it’s not is because the game lacks depth."

He essentially claimed that Call of Duty, as an FPS title, lacks the competitive complexity of other FPS games (like Counter-Strike, Valorant, and Apex Legends). CoD prioritizes fast-paced gameplay, emphasizing reflexes over strategic depth. The game focuses on replayability and accessibility, in contrast to other titles that feature a higher skill ceiling.

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Shroud believes Call of Duty falls short on depth for global esports dominance

Renowned esports reporter and analyst Jake Lucky shared a clip on their X handle, featuring a livestream in which Shroud questioned Call of Duty's potential as an esports title. According to the former CS:GO pro, despite being one of the best-selling titles, CoD still fails to get to the top of the global esports scene. He said that the game has a lower skill ceiling, meaning that any player can be good at it.

This could be because Activision releases a new CoD title every year, but the core elements remain the same. For example, Black Ops 6's Omnimovement wasn't advertised as a major overhaul and didn't bring any significant changes to the movement system.

Shroud further explained that the game has tactical limitations due to the absence of strategic play. He suggested that CoD players have fewer strategic weaknesses and a lower skill ceiling to work towards, implying that every pro player excels at everything in the game. He explained that the core gameplay and competitive restrictions do not foster a wide range of skills, which leads to a homogenized pool of players where every CoD pro is as skilled as others, rather than having their unique strengths.

OpTic JP

@JPKrez

Shroud is right in that the skill gap has shrunken in terms of gunfights and a lot of SnD (dependent on the maps), but a lot is due to the publisher - it's just not made for competitive first. ​HOWEVER, I genuinely think people don't realize what goes into decision-making in respawn modes at the pro level.​I do think with a trained eye, you can see the depth and see the differences between Player A and Player B.

Professional esports coach and Optic Texas analyst @JPKrez reacted to the clip and agreed with Shroud's statement. He replied by stating that Shroud is right about the shrinking skill gap in Call of Duty, but that this is limited to gunfights and the Search and Destroy modes. He further claimed that the publisher is to blame for this and not the professional players, as Activision didn't consider competitive play to be the primary focus of the game when it was being made.

However,@JPKrez firmly disagreed with Shroud on the latter's statement that Call of Duty esports doesn't have diverse playstyles. He explained that strategic decision-making is a critical skill in CoD that can help distinguish between professional players.

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Check out the links below for more Call of Duty news and guides:

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• BO6 'Join failed because you are on a different version' error: Possible fixes and reasons
• Painting Easter egg guide in BO6 Zombies Reckoning