Noctem Esports announced on X that it’s shutting down for good “with immediate effect,” leaving its current teams in search of new organisations to sign with.

The UK esports organisation has been active for the past two years, competing in both Apex Legends and Call of Duty leagues.

The news was shared by the official Noctem account on X on March 3rd, 2025. It said: “A sad day today, as we’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to cease Noctem’s operations with immediate effect.

“For two years, we gave everything to build something special, and to take the brand to where we needed and wanted it to be Unfortunately, we couldn’t make that happen. But what a ride it’s been. Four world finals appearances, four esports, millions of views. An incredible and dedicated content team.”

Noctem concluded that it’s been ‘one hell of a journey,’ and even felt hopeful that the organisation could return one day.

In light of its success and victories over the past two years, the announcement of Noctem’s closure came as a surprise to many esports players online.

Marco ‘Stallion‘ Galluzo, a streamer for Fnatic, said: “Can’t believe this, thought you’d made some huge moves over the last two years as well. Wish all the best for everyone who was involved.”

Stingzy is a content creator and was a former member of Noctem Esports before leaving on February 26, 2025. In response to the announcement, he said: “It’s really sad to see this. I loved my time here, and [I’m] sad to see it end!”

Noctem Esports was first established on March 19, 2023 by Jack Stovell, former FIFA competitor for Dignitas back in 2009.

One of its most recent achievements was in the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) 2024 Championship, securing 18th place and earning $20,000 in prize money.

Noctem faced a rough start to 2025 after it could not land a sponsor for Apex Champs.

“Apex Champs is just over a week away,” Stovell said on X at the time, “and we’ve had it confirmed our last sponsor opportunity isn’t happening. Esports is hard, we’ve had a lot fall through in the last five months, and although I’m always optimistic – It’s been a challenge recently.”

The challenges that followed would eventually lead to Noctem letting go of it’s Apex Legends team. This included Mohsin ‘mohziin’ Khan, and Max ‘RemixPowers’ Creamer. Thomaz ‘Atinum’ Ferreira Brasil transferred to GoNext Esports on February 23rd, 2025.

Esports has a vast ecosystem that spans across a variety of games, each with its own unique structures and calendars. As such, fans of multiple esports are treated to major tournaments and events throughout the entirety of the year.

To help navigate esports’ hectic calendar, Esports Insider has created a month-by-month list of events that are taking place in 2025. These competitions range from annual World Championships to major leagues that cover entire regions. 

This list will be updated periodically as more major esports events and dates are announced. First published: 13/01/25.

League of Legends and VALORANT kick off esports’ competitive calendar with their international respective leagues all commencing. However, the first month of 2025 also concludes Apex Legends’ latest season as the 2024 ALGS Championship heads to Japan.

February sees some of the best teams across Rainbow Six Siege, VALORANT and Counter-Strike 2 collide with the Six Invitational 2025, VALORANT Masters Bangkok 2025 and PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 all taking place, respectively. Meanwhile, Fortnite’s esports ecosystem takes centre stage across the world with its online Major 1 Grand Finals.

League of Legends’ esports ecosystem will debut its new tournament, First Stand, in March. Meanwhile, Capcom Cup 11, Street Fighter 6’s biggest event of the year, and Rocket League’s RLCS 2025 Birmingham Major stand out within a very busy month in esports.

Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 largely dominate April 2025, with the likes of PGL Bucharest, BLAST Rivals Spring 2025, IEM Spring, ESL One Raleigh and PGL Wallachia Season 4 all starting in the month. Call of Duty League’s Stage 3 Major and ESL Snapdragon Pro Series: Mobile Masters 2025 are other stand-out events in April.

Counter-Strike 2 continues to dominate the 2025 esports calendar with four significant events happening in May alone. Notably, this includes ESL Impact League Season 7, Counter-Strike 2’s women’s-only esports competition.

June is jam-packed with international events. VALORANT, Counter-Strike, Rocket League and League of Legends will host notable global competitions to find the best teams in their respective games at 2025’s mid-way point.

July marks the start of the 2025 Esports World Cup, a multi-title esports tournament in Saudi Arabia. As such, a range of major esports events will be scheduled throughout the month. As of right now, the biggest events announced are the PUBG Mobile World Cup 2025 and its new Chess competition.

Alongside the continuation of the Esports World Cup, August will see titles such as Pokemon UNITE and GeoGuessr conclude their respective esports ecosystems.

September sees various Counter-Strike 2 competitions commence, including the ESL Pro League and the StarLadder StarSeries. However, headlining this month is the RLCS 2025 World Championship, which has yet to reveal its location.

So far, very little has been announced for October. However, the 2025 League of Legends World Championship, one of esports’ biggest events of the year, is set to be held in China with PGL hosting another significant Counter-Strike 2 tournament in Serbia.

November sees the conclusion of PUBG Mobile’s esports ecosystem, whilst Rainbow Six, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 all host notable competitions.

Written by: Tom Daniels & Olivia Richman

OpTic Texas has announced that Australian Call of Duty esports player Amer ‘Pred’ Zulbeari has returned to the team’s starting line-up.

Pred replaces Cuyler ‘Huke’ Garland who competed for the Call of Duty League (CDL) franchise during the opening Major of the season in Madrid, Spain.

Pred first joined OpTic Texas in July 2023, becoming the first Call of Duty player from the APAC region to win a CDL Major. In December 2024, he left the franchise to take a break to deal with an undisclosed personal situation.

The return marks the reformation of the OpTic Texas roster which achieved victory at the 2024 CDL Championship, defeating New York Subliners in the Grand Final.

OpTic Texas is the first CDL franchise to make a roster change following the conclusion of Major 1. After securing the top seed for the opening event of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 season, the franchise only scored a top-eight placement after losing to Miami Heretics and Carolina Royal Ravens.

Before the second Major of the 2025 CDL season takes place, the newly-formed OpTic Texas and 11 other franchises return to action for four weeks of qualifying matches.

Beginning on February 14th and concluding on March 16th, franchises compete for CDL Points to determine the seeding for the next LAN event taking place in Allen, Texas. Notably, OpTic Texas will operate the event.

Allen, Texas is no stranger to hosting Call of Duty esports events. In 2024, the season-ending CDL Championship took place at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center with OpTic Texas taking the win in front of a capacity crowd.

In addition to qualifying matches, the second stage of the season will host a Minor tournament. The Minor involves all 12 teams competing in a single-elimination bracket for $20,000 (~£16,064) and additional CDL Points.

Atlanta FaZe, an esports franchise owned by FaZe Clan, has won the 2025 Call of Duty League (CDL) Major 1 in Madrid, Spain.

Hosted by fellow CDL franchise Toronto Ultra at the Caja Mágica, Atlanta FaZe narrowly defeated Los Angeles Thieves in a final that came down to the final round of the final map.

Taking place over the last five days, all 12 CDL teams have competed across a double-elimination bracket to earn valuable CDL Points and a share of the event’s $375,000 (~£304,783) prize pool. By winning the tournament, Atlanta FaZe has received 100 CDL Points and $150,000 (~£121,888).

On its way to the Grand Final, Atlanta FaZe defeated Boston Breach and host franchise Toronto Ultra in the opening two rounds of the upper bracket. The team then went on to defeat LA Thieves in the upper bracket final to secure its place in the Grand Final.

Meanwhile, LA Thieves defeated the Carolina Royal Ravens and the Miami Heretics to set up a rematch in the Grand Final which used a best-of-seven format to determine the eventual winner.

The final came down to the eleventh and final round of game seven where Atlanta FaZe secured victory in one of the closest matches seen in the Call of Duty League’s five-year history.

Overall, this is Atlanta FaZe’s sixth Call of Duty League Major trophy. Moreover, the franchise has won the Call of Duty League 2021: Playoffs and Esports World Cup 2024.

Following the conclusion of Major 1, Atlanta FaZe and the 11 other teams return to action with online qualifiers for the second Major of the CDL season.

Three weeks of online qualifiers to determine seeding for Major 2 begins on February 14th, 2025 and concludes on March 16th, 2025.

Before Major 2 — which is hosted by OpTic Texas — takes place, the second CDL Minor will commence on February 27th to March 2nd. The single-elimination tournament involves all 12 teams with the winner taking home a $20,000 (~£16,256) prize.

Seeding for the Minor is determined by the first two weeks of Major 2 qualification.

The first Major of the 2025 Call of Duty League (CDL) is set to take place later today (January 30th) in Madrid, Spain.

Ahead of the event, Esports Insider has created a brief guide to everything there is to know about the CDL 2025 Major 1 and its wider impact on the Call of Duty esports ecosystem.

Major 1 is the first of five LAN events taking place on the Call of Duty League calendar and sees all 12 franchises competing on the stage for a chance to earn CDL Points and a share of the prize money.

All 12 franchises have been placed in a double-elimination bracket based on seeding determined during three weeks of online qualifiers and a Minor tournament.

The top eight teams begin the tournament in the winner’s bracket while the bottom four are placed in the elimination bracket.

Each match will use the V1.2 ruleset developed by the Call of Duty League and representatives from each franchise.

The event will use a best-of-five (BO5) format up until the Grand Finals where a best-of-seven (BO7) will determine the eventual winner.

Unlike previous years, the Call of Duty League hasn’t revealed the total prize pool for Major 1 2025. The opening event of the 2024 CDL season featured a prize pool of $375,000 (~£301,563).

The top eight teams will earn CDL Points that will be used to determine seeding for the second Major of the season taking place in Allen, Texas.

You can watch all of the action from Major 1 on the official Call of Duty League YouTube channel. Thanks to an exclusivity deal between the platform and the league, all matches are broadcast exclusively on YouTube.

The first matches get underway on January 30th with the tournament concluding on February 2nd. The first match of the day will begin at 3 PM GMT.

The Grand Final is scheduled to take place on February 2nd at 7.30 PM GMT.

After a turbulent start to the 2025 season, fan-favourites OpTic Texas are the top seed heading into the opening Major of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

In December 2024, the franchise revealed Amer ‘Pred Zulbeari left the team resulting in the return of Cuyler ‘Huke’ Garland to the starting lineup.

Another team that struggled to begin the season on the front foot was two-time CDL champions Atlanta FaZe. After ending the online qualifiers in sixth place, the team managed to win the CDL’s inaugural Minor tournament earning enough points to avoid starting in the elimination bracket.

The Carolina Royal Ravens were the early frontrunners during the online qualifiers. Achieving a second-place finish in the Minor cemented the franchise as the third seed. Moreover, all eyes will be on Toronto Ultra, which is the official host of the first CDL Major event of 2025.

Despite being based in Canada, Toronto Ultra is owned by OverActive Media, a company that has popular Spanish organisation Movistar KOI in its portfolio.

Esports has always been an ever-evolving industry, with the sector looking to cement itself within mainstream culture. 

To gauge how the sector has changed, every year Esports Insider asks a range of prominent industry stakeholders to review and reflect on the past year in esports.

Looking back on the year as a whole, 2024 has undergone its fair share of major esports announcements and milestones. Starting with the transition from competitive CS:GO to Counter-Strike 2, the esports sector was introduced to the Esports World Cup and the Overwatch Champions Series. Meanwhile, League of Legends’ LCS bid its final farewell.

2024 was also defined by how esports organisations and ecosystems continued to navigate, adapt and grow throughout esports winter’s tough conditions. Consolidation was a prominent phrase used throughout the year with organisations announcing major acquisitions and mergers to strengthen their position in the sector. 

Read on to see how stakeholders in the sector defined esports in 2024, including which scenes showed the best (and worst) impressions.

This year’s edition features comments from the likes of Team Vitality, Ninjas in Pyjamas, G2 Esports, BLAST, ESL FACEIT Group and more. 

Steve Arhancet, CEO, Team Liquid: “In short, it was a complete battleground of enormous transformation for all sides of the equation — players, agencies, teams and developers alike. Some businesses were washed away, but there are still powerhouses in every region, and games are flourishing.

“The number of gamers and esports fans continue to grow but it’s not a given that businesses will be able to capitalise on the opportunity. We have to figure out how to commercialise and engage with them in new and exciting ways, which is challenging, but refreshing.”

Nicolas Maurer, Co-Founder and CEO, Team Vitality: “I’d say 2024 has been a year of consolidation. We’re not seeing many new leagues or games launching, but rather a clearer understanding across the industry of what really matters. The key games and tournaments, like League of Legends, CS2 and VALORANT, are more firmly established, and the gap between these leaders and the rest of the industry is growing.”

Alban Dechelotte, CEO, G2 Esports: “2024 has really been a great year for esports. The introduction of the Esports World Cup providing eight weeks of game-changing competition followed by the announcement of the IOC Olympic Esports Games breathes new life into the ecosystem, on top of all the regular tournaments running all year round. 

“Global fandom is also on the rise. This is something we’ve been working on as we expand our presence across the world, but other teams are succeeding in this as well — no longer are teams just tied to one region with one set of fans…

“Diversity is becoming more normal in esports — there are more tournaments and we even saw mixed tournaments this year with VALORANT and Red Bull, providing opportunities for women to compete alongside men in top-tier competition.”

Monica Dinsmore, Senior Director of Esports and Ventures Brand, Electronic Arts: “In 2024, esports continued to prove its worth as a powerful tool for engagement, reacquisition and community building.

“While the industry is still figuring out a structure that works for everyone, we’re seeing stakeholders reframe their approach to the industry. At EA, we’ve found success by prioritising our player bases in our core competitive titles: Apex Legends, EA SPORTS FC and Madden NFL.”

Faisal Binhomran, Chief Product Officer, Esports World Cup Foundation: “Esports in 2024 was about maturing and flourishing. After a tough 2023, we saw record numbers come back to viewership and events on the professional level, which is incredibly encouraging as we turn the calendar to 2025. 

“With global events like the Esports World Cup, or League of Legends’ Worlds and Mobile Legends’ M6, we see incredible growth and the industry is truly coming into its own.”

Hicham Chahine, CEO, Ninjas in Pyjamas: “Overall it’s been a good year for esports. While the initial months may have been cautious, we’re now in a position where things are beginning to trend upward again. This has been for several reasons, one being the macroeconomic climate. Inflation rates are coming down, which means interest rates are coming down and brands are more excited to invest in esports again.”

Animesh ‘8Bit Thug’ Agarwal, Co-Founder, S8UL: “Esports in 2024 solidified its position as a mainstream cultural phenomenon. The distinction between competitive esports and gaming became clearer, helping audiences and stakeholders better understand the ecosystem.

“At the same time, esports, traditional sports and influencer-driven content began working more cohesively, creating synergies that enhanced fan experiences and industry growth.”

Robbie Douek, CEO, BLAST: “2024 has felt like a year of transformation and growth for esports. After navigating some challenging times in 2022 and 2023, this year has really marked a resurgence — a renewed sense of drive, ambition and focus on consumer-facing events.

“There’s been a clear push to bring esports closer to fans, and that’s been a hugely positive shift for the industry.”

Alban Dechelotte, CEO, G2 Esports: “2024 has been a record-breaking competitive year for G2, with more trophies won than ever before…

“We’ve also continued our growth in China — we’re the top western team in China on social media and top five teams overall vs Chinese teams. Our total VCT bundle sales were more than 50% from our Chinese fans, which is a great indication of our fanbase in the region.”

Marco Mereu, Founder and CEO, M80: Survival. Esports is coming out of its toughest stretch in the history of the industry as the landscape of esports resets to workable models and revenue structures that make sense for long-term growth.

“While many teams were focused almost entirely on sponsorship revenue, we doubled down on emerging categories such as in-game digital goods and influencer-based CPG. This has enabled us to be buyers in a buyers market, most recently acquiring Beastcoast and adding to our esports and media portfolios.

Daniel Finkler, CEO of BIG: “BIG’s standout achievements in 2024 include qualifying for the CS2 Shanghai Major and advancing to the elimination stage — a testament to our players’ dedication and performance.”

Nicolas Maurer, Co-Founder and CEO, Team Vitality: “Team Vitality’s single biggest achievement in 2024 was undoubtedly the CS2 team’s victory at IEM Cologne. As one of the most prestigious esports events, it’s an important box to tick if you want to be amongst the most legendary CS teams ever.”

Steve Arhancet, CEO, Team Liquid: “Navigating our participation at the Esports World Cup held in Saudi Arabia and then finishing second place — I think this was a true achievement on a handful of fronts.

“Our second-place finish was a result of our commitment to and consistency in many top esports titles, and it was especially satisfying to see Clem claim a title in StarCraft II. We were also able to maintain our values and compete as we are at the event, wearing our Pride jersey as we have done so for many years.”

​​Hicham Chahine, CEO, Ninjas in Pyjamas: “Listing NIP Group on the NASDAQ stock market was a monumental milestone for us and it certainly came with its own set of challenges. While we had to adjust during this transition, it firmly supported our plans to expand globally into key regions.

“Looking at how our competitive campaign played out, we lived up to expectations in areas — especially with our great year in the LPL.”

Craig Levine, co-CEO, ESL FACEIT Group: “IEM Cologne sold out the LANXESS Arena and attracted fans from around the world, the inaugural DreamHack Stockholm brought our most-attended European festival to the Swedish capital, FACEIT 2.0 expanded resources on our competitive gaming platform for over 30m users and our Live Legendary campaign put fans at the forefront of ESL’s 25th anniversary.

Robbie Douek, CEO of BLAST: “2024 has been a record-breaking year for BLAST across the board. What really stands out is how much we’ve grown—not just in revenue but in the scale of what we’ve delivered.

“We doubled the number of arena shows compared to the previous year, which is testament to that year-on-year growth. We have been able to ramp up our output across our esports titles, bringing Rocket League and Dota 2 into the mix.”

Michael Haenisch, CEO, Freaks 4U Gaming: “From the corporate and strategic development perspective, our biggest achievement in 2024 was becoming part of NODWIN Gaming…

“Regarding our esports ventures, 2024 was a landmark year for the League of Legends Prime League.”

Moritz Maurer, CEO and Founder, GRID: In 2024, establishing a multi-year partnership with Riot Games as their exclusive in-game data partner for League of Legends and VALORANT marked a major milestone for GRID. 

“This collaboration immediately began with the start of the year — we integrated the GRID Data Platform with League of Legends and launched the GRID League of Legends Competitor Portal already in January.”

Daniel Finkler, CEO, BIG: “Our biggest challenge in 2024 was navigating the financial pressures of an esports ecosystem still recovering from global economic slowdowns. Publisher dominance and unpredictable ecosystem shifts demanded constant adaptation.” 

Steve Arhancet, CEO, Team Liquid: “Navigating the esports winter, while growing considerably.  Most folks who are single-esport fans don’t know this, but we are truly a global enterprise, with Alienware Training Facilities and 350 staff on four continents.

“The amount of macro- and micro-management involved in running the business is something we have mastered over the years — but it’s still not as good as Clem at EWC!”

Michael Haenisch, CEO, Freaks 4U Gaming: “Our biggest challenge in 2024 was navigating the delicate balance between sustainability and stability for the company. 

“This included making the very difficult decision to implement layoffs while ensuring operational continuity as we were and are still recovering from the industry’s post-Covid reset and the challenging global macroeconomic conditions.”

Alban Dechelotte, CEO, G2 Esports: “Overall, brand partnership markets have been very slow and low, with discussions lasting far longer than in the previous years.

“Also, some tough changes from publishers around future investment in esports — sadly Epic’s changes to Rocket League resulted in us pulling out of the scene for now.” 

Faisal Binhomran, Chief Product Officer, Esports World Cup Foundation: “The EWC’s biggest challenge was also our biggest achievement: bringing together the best games and clubs in the world on one platform. 

“With more than 20 individual tournaments to schedule and to deliver on our promise to have the best players in the world participate, we needed to closely align with our publishing partners to create an offering that met the needs of all involved.”

Akshat Rathee, Co-founder and Managing Director, NODWIN Gaming: One of our biggest challenges was navigating the complex regulatory environment surrounding gaming and esports in India. 

“Adapting to evolving policies while ensuring uninterrupted execution of events and initiatives required extensive coordination with stakeholders, strategic foresight and flexibility.”

Marco Mereu, Founder and CEO, M80: “Despite another astounding run through VALORANT Ascension Americas this year, we failed to qualify, losing in the Grand Finals for the second year in a row. It was heartbreaking to come so close to Ascension again, but we still have a lot to show for it…”

“The journey is difficult, but we’ll be back for more in 2025.”

Skyler Johnson, Founder, Paper Crowns: “Ultimately, as the agency grows, the challenge is scaling efficiently without diluting our core values, nor the personalized high-touch service our clients have come to expect. Maintaining the agility of a non-’skyscraper agency’, while managing an increasing amount of larger accounts and complex projects requires deliberate process improvements and strong leadership.

Craig Levine, co-CEO, ESL FACEIT Group: “EFG has been a believer in mobile esports for some time, but the enthusiasm we saw this year across the Snapdragon Pro Series was unprecedented. In particular, the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang community in Southeast Asia came out to support our Season 6 Open Qualifier, which became the most-watched open-level MLBB tournament of all time with 830,000 viewers.”

Daniel Finkler, CEO, BIG: “The mobile esports scene once again stood out in 2024. Its rapid growth in emerging markets continues to highlight the accessibility and scalability of mobile gaming. Titles in this space achieved record-breaking viewership and engagement globally. 

“Additionally, Fortnite remains a cultural phenomenon, seamlessly blending competitive gameplay with live entertainment events that captivate audiences worldwide.”

Animesh ‘8Bit Thug’ Agarwal, Co-Founder, S8UL: “In the Indian esports ecosystem, what stood out in 2024 was the growth into multiple titles beyond BGMI, including Pokémon Unite. S8UL’s own Pokémon Unite team made significant headway, performing exceptionally well on both national and international stages.”

Akshat Rathee, Co-founder and Managing Director, NODWIN Gaming: “The BGMI esports scene has been exceptionally impressive in 2024. Its reintroduction sparked a wave of excitement, bringing together massive audiences, high-profile sponsors and well-organised leagues.” 

Alban Dechelotte, CEO, G2 Esports: “In 2024, we have been lucky to join the VALORANT VCT ecosystem. We love the balance of regional leagues and international events as well as the opportunity to offer in-game content to the G2 Army.”

Skyler Johnson, Founder, Paper Crowns: There are a lot to me that stand out, from the VALORANT ecosystem Riot is creating to the CS community and its stacked event calendar…

“My bias to the Call of Duty community will always be there and I think the game itself offers a solid ranked play, which I hope leads to more competitive esports trickle-down.

Robbie Douek, CEO, BLAST: “I’d be lying if I said I had a favourite ecosystem — each brings its own unique flavour to the industry. That said, I have to give a nod to Riot Games and League of Legends Worlds.

“We joke about it because they always seem to clean up at the awards we are up for, but honestly, there’s a reason for that. Worlds is a masterpiece of an event — it’s the kind of tentpole production that sets the bar for what esports can achieve.”

Hicham Chahine, CEO, Ninjas in Pyjamas: “The shift away from women and marginalised genders in esports, which is sad to see. There are a lot less marginalised gender tournaments for esports teams and players. 

“This has disappointed me the most, it felt like we had such an upward trajectory with investment from several ecosystem stakeholders within the space — but I feel across the industry focus on marginalised genders within the pro-competitive scene has gone down.”

Nicolas Maurer, Co-Founder and CEO, Team Vitality: “I’d say that overall Rocket League is seeing a downward trend this year. That’s not in terms of public interest or our excitement for the game, but rather the way the professional scene is organised. Obviously, we’re not alone in feeling this way, it seems to be a general public sentiment, which is quite frustrating because Rocket League is a fantastic game with a ton of potential.”

Skyler Johnson, Founder, Paper Crowns: “This one is a bit harder for me because our community is very up and down, so being ‘not impressed’ is something that I don’t really think about as much. I would like to see more publishers and tournament organisers focus on community engagement tools and I know just the agency to help with that!”

The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF), the tournament organiser behind the Esports World Cup, has announced a multi-year partnership agreement with the Call of Duty League.

The deal will see EWCF commit to the growth of Call of Duty’s esports ecosystem for the upcoming three years. This includes the league extending its 2025 competitive calendar into August for the Esports World Cup, which makes its return to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, next summer.

Financial terms surrounding the partnership were not disclosed.

The Esports World Cup previously announced that both Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Black Ops would be included in its 2025 game lineup.

The latter will replace Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, which saw Atlanta FaZe walk out victorious. Alongside the other 15 participating teams, the Call of Duty: MW3 tournament offered a combined prize pool of $1.8m (~£1,41m). Call of Duty: Warzone, instead, featured a $1m (~£0,78m) prize pool, with Team Falcons coming out victorious.

In 2024, Call of Duty was the last franchise to be featured in the Esports World Cup, increasing the total number of events to 22. Other titles at this year’s event included Counter-Strike, League of Legends, and Honor of Kings, which has also been confirmed for the 2025 edition.

Despite the prize pool and incredibly competitive environment, the EWC has generated controversy from sections of the esports industry due to the support of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. The Kingdom has been heavily investing in esports as it looks to become a hub for the industry, but discussions surrounding its human rights record remain.

Fabian Scheuermann, Chief Games Officer, Esports World Cup Foundation, commented on the deal: “Call of Duty is one of the most celebrated games on the planet and has captivated global communities for generations.

“Together, we are creating new opportunities for players, from grassroots to elite competitors, to rise through the ranks and compete on the world’s biggest stage. As we continue to grow the largest-ever celebration of esports excellence, we look forward to welcoming all players into a life-changing global event, one that connects players, games, fans, and the entire esports industry under one banner.”

The Esports World Cup, a multi-title esports event organised by the Esports World Cup Foundation, has announced that battle royale title Call of Duty: Warzone will be featured at its 2025 event.

Call of Duty: Warzone becomes the third title to be confirmed for the 2025 Esports World Cup.

The confirmation of Call of Duty: Warzone at the 2025 Esports World Cup follows the inclusion of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at the multi-title event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia throughout June and August 2025. Details on the tournament format and prize pool were not disclosed.

Call of Duty: Warzone’s 2024 tournament featured 21 teams competing for a share of a $1m (~£784,581) prize pool. The competition was won by Team Falcons which went on to win the EWC Club competition taking home an additional $7m (~£5.52m) in prize money.

2024’s Call of Duty: Warzone event at the Esports World Cup recorded peak viewing figures of 135,281 making it the battle royale’s second most-watched event of the year. The Esports World Cup caught the attention of many due to its $60m (~£47m) total prize pool across all competitions.

Call of Duty was the last franchise to be featured in the 2024 Esports World Cup, taking the total number of events to 22. Other titles at this year’s event included Counter-Strike, League of Legends, RENNSPORT and many others.

Alongside both Call of Duty games, Honor of Kings will also be involved in the 2025 Esports World Cup.

The Esports World Cup Foundation, the organisers of the Esports World Cup, is supported by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund which has generated controversy from sections of the esports industry. While the Kingdom looks to position itself as a hub for international esports events, discussions surrounding its human rights record remains.

The Call of Duty League (CDL) has unveiled its schedule for the 2025 season.

The season will feature four LAN Major events, online qualifiers, new Minor tournaments and will conclude with the Call of Duty League Championship.

The 2025 Call of Duty League season begins on December 6th with online qualifiers for the first Major.

For the first time since 2020, the CDL heads to Europe with Toronto Ultra hosting the first Major of the season in Madrid from January 30th to February 2nd, 2025. March 20th-23rd will see defending champions OpTic Texas host an event in Dallas, Texas.

In the middle of Qualifiers for Majors One and Two, Call of Duty has also introduced Minor tournaments. These 12-team single-elimination events feature a $20,000 (~£15,686) prize for the winner and provide opportunities for teams to earn CDL Points. CDL Points determine seeding for the Majors and which teams make it to the post-season phase.

It has also been announced that Miami Heretics will operate the third Major taking place from April 24th-27th. Details on the fourth Major were not disclosed.

Alongside omitting details on the fourth Major of the 2025 Call of Duty League season, the announcement did not contain information on where CDL Champs will take place. However, the league’s website notes the event will be taking place in Toronto, Canada with dates yet to be revealed.

In addition to sharing the season schedule, the CDL unveiled the 2025 collection of in-game skins that will be available for players to purchase. It was also announced that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will form part of the 2025 Esports World Cup, a multi-title event organised by the Esports World Cup Foundation.

Call of Duty esports has maintained stability over the last year. The 2024 CDL Champs event saw peak viewing figures of 283,184 while the 2023 event attracted a peak of 294,178.

Game developer Activision has unveiled new Call of Duty League team skins that will be available in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

There will be a number of Call of Duty League bundles available in-game. This includes home and away versions of the Competitor Operator, the main character skin used in the CDL.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is the latest edition of the Call of Duty series of games, and Activision has announced a series of details about the first Battle Pass season for the game through its official website. Among the information is a short section about the CDL-themed skins which are to appear in the game at some point during Season 1.

Activision said in the announcement that there will be a “variety of CDL Bundles themed around favourite teams.” In addition, there will be weapon camos, decals, sprays, emblems and calling cards themed around the CDL. Activision did not mention what portion of the skin sales will go towards the teams. Moreover, the company did not go into much detail surrounding the skins.

The skins themselves are pretty straightforward. All the skins feature the team logo on the character’s chest, with Cloud9 New York and LA Guerrila skins adopting a different colour altogether, using blue and purple instead of black.

Call of Duty isn’t the only franchise that utilises in-game skins to support its esports teams. Other notable examples include Rocket League’s esports shop, Counter-Strike’s sticker project and VALORANT’s range of in-game VCT items.