"Massive W" - Gaming community reacts as Call of Duty League signs exclusive deal to broadcast on Twitch

Fans recently shared mixed reactions to the news of the Call of Duty League signing an exclusive deal with Twitch after their partnership with YouTube ended. The 2023 season of Call of Duty League is set to begin tomorrow (December 2), with four Major 1 qualifiers scheduled to take place.

For those unaware, the Call of Duty League is a professional esports competition involving the popular multiplayer game. The tournament's teams are city-based and backed by grouped owners.

Initially, there were some concerns since Activision had not officially confirmed a streaming platform. However, it was announced earlier today that the event will be broadcast live on Twitch. After seeing the news, a fan and community member, Aeolus from Ghost Gaming, commented:

Fans share mixed reactions to Call of Duty League's exclusive partnership with Twitch

This year's event marks the fourth edition of the Call of Duty League. It was previously streamed exclusively on YouTube after Activision Blizzard signed a multi-year deal with Google. However, after three years of partnering with the red platform, Call of Duty will now shift to the purple side as Twitch has been officially announced as the competition's exclusive streaming partner.

As mentioned before, there were rising concerns about Activision's inability to confirm a streaming platform. With the issue now resolved, numerous fans have taken to social media to react. The news was covered by multiple esports news agencies and reporters. Jake Lucky, a popular online reporter, posted:

One user stated that advertisements could be a serious problem, even if the viewing experience is likely to be better since Twitch specifically caters to streaming:

Another user commented that Twitch remains the number one platform when it comes to streaming. However, they believe that, due to the last-minute announcement, Activision may have taken a pay cut in their deal:

Due to the availability of watch parties on Twitch, content creators will get to co-stream the event, which is likely to improve viewership. Mentioning this feature, one user commented:

On the other end, there were critical comments as well. Some users expressed that the barrage of ads may ruin their viewing experiences, with one fan stating:

One user believes that the overall viewership and engagement will drop after the platform change:

The CDL Major 1 qualifiers will be held from December 15 to 18 at the Raleigh Convention Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. The highly anticipated event is set to kick off with a match between Boston Breach and Atlanta FaZe.

About the author

Shreyan is an esports and gaming journalist at Sportskeeda, focusing on streamer content. He holds a Master's degree in English Literature, and journalism was the most logical next step for him. Although titles like FIFA 08 and GTA San Andreas acted as the catalyst for his love of video games, the exponential growth of the streaming community also propelled his interest in the genre. He also has a prior work experience of 2 years.

Shreyan considers factual and accurate content to be the most important as a creator and a reader. He ensures this by double checking every piece of information in his articles and sourcing it from streamers directly rather than depend on third parties. His works have caught the attention of the heavyweights, with the PR team of Sidemen (a YouTube group he’s been following since his teenage days) and Chess.com reaching out to him for sending exclusive press releases.

Shreyan would love to drop into the virtual world of FIFA/EA FC and explore it further but, he would recommend playing Red Dead Redemption 2 to gaming skeptics for its top-tier gameplay, story and characters. During his downtime, he enjoys balancing his interests in reading, watching films and sports, and of course, playing video games.

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