67-462: The Atlanta FaZe is an American professional Call of Duty League (CDL) esports team based in Atlanta, Georgia . Atlanta FaZe is a partnership between FaZe Clan and Atlanta Esports Ventures . Atlanta was announced as one of the first five cities to host a CDL team. On May 2, 2019, Activision Blizzard announced that Atlanta Esports Ventures had purchased one of the first five franchise slots for
134-521: A US$ 1 million prize pool alongside the main League season. This provides the League teams with a pool of talent that they can draw from for their teams. Since the 2021 season, the Call of Duty League uses a 4v4 format instead of 5v5 in the previous season. "Domination" was replaced by "Control", where one team attempts to capture two points on the map, while the other team defends them. The round can end with
201-505: A defendant, stating that their competitor had worked with West and Zampella to "destabilize, disrupt and ... destroy Infinity Ward", and sought US$ 400 million in damages. Separately, several former and current members of Infinity Ward under the name "Infinity Ward Employee Group" (IWEG) sued Activision for between US$ 75 – 125 million for unpaid bonuses for work on Modern Warfare 2 and an additional US$ 75–500 million in punitive damages. Ultimately by May 2012, Activision had settled with
268-473: A fucking era where everyone is so focused on subscriber numbers and all that stuff that we need to get back to what I feel like we did so much better in the old days of just plain good will, like stuff like the LAN patch, yeah it is lower priority but let's get it out the fucking door. Let's just do it." In May 2014, Neversoft was merged with Infinity Ward to form a single 'super-studio' after both collaborated on
335-542: A game and can substitute players during this time; this is in contrast to the OWL format where play substitutions may only occur between games. The 2020 season schedule is evenly divided into two splits for spring and summer, with a mid-season all-star event taking place after the spring split, and culminates in the Championship Weekend. Each team will host a weekend tournament-style event in their home city, and
402-417: A game studio called Respawn Entertainment . On May 3, 2014, Neversoft was merged into Infinity Ward. Infinity Ward was founded as an Activision division by Grant Collier, Jason West, and Vince Zampella in 2002. The studio was formed by several members of 2015 Games, LLC. , the studio that developed the successful Medal of Honor: Allied Assault for Electronic Arts (EA) in 2002. Dissatisfied with
469-563: A head in February 2010 when Activision hired a lawfirm to investigate Infinity Ward. On March 1, 2010, West and Zampella were released by Activision for "insubordination", forfeiting the bonuses they had negotiated. The pair went on to form Respawn Entertainment in April 2010 as an independent studio, through working closely with EA on a yet-announced project (revealed in 2013 as Titanfall ). Several dozen of Infinity Ward's employees resigned in
536-621: A heavily rebuilt IW engine for the series, allowing for the use of more detailed environments, advanced photogrammetry and rendering , better volumetric lighting , and the use of ray tracing . The new engine had been in development five years prior to the release of the game, and was a collaborative effort between the main Infinity Ward studio in California and the new studio in Poland . Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II uses
603-531: A lawsuit and Activision Blizzard agreed to settle the suit on the same day, with provisions that would prohibit it from implementing a salary cap or luxury tax , or any other measure that would unfairly depress player salaries in the Overwatch League , the Call of Duty League, or any other esports league. The Call of Duty League follows the model of the Overwatch League as well as other traditional North American professional sporting leagues by using
670-535: A massive prize pool of $ 1,000,000 to be given out through a series of tournaments. The Challengers division is run through a format of "Pro points" or "Challenger points" which are virtual points given out to people based on their placing in tournaments. Owing to the vast number of people trying to make it to the Call of Duty League, it would be very difficult to find the best players without the addition of these points. This allows for franchised teams such as Optic Gaming or Seattle Surge to have academy teams equipped with
737-495: A meeting between teams from the opposite group. During each homestand teams will earn CDL points and the top eight teams at the end of the season will enter the playoffs to compete for the CDL Championship. Challengers is the amateur division of competitive Call of Duty . Challengers contains all of the up-and-coming players that are striving to enter the official Call of Duty League. The 2020 Challengers season offered
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#1732797382219804-455: A plan to try to make the league as presentable as possible. They first started the league by announcing a partnership with Google to allow YouTube Gaming to have exclusive streaming rights for all of their leagues. This was a major announcement as this was the major way that spectators would be able to watch the league from home. This was especially advantageous when the CDL went to online only due to
871-488: A result of the pandemic. Additional measures to further protect the competitive integrity of the league were also announced. All competitors are to be provided with a universal camera which will need to be activated throughout all matches with the camera providing league officials visibility each competitor's console, controller and monitor. On April 3, 2023 the United States Department of Justice filed
938-529: A server architecture for the Call of Duty games, the CODCaster, that enables a match to be viewed from multiple different angles and identify which angles have the most exciting action to follow, as to allow the commentators and producers of the broadcast events to help show key action in the match. CODCaster also compiles key in-game statistics, and is able to render the team's characters in their team's colors for
1005-739: A set of permanent, city-based teams backed by separate ownership groups. The CDL launched in January 2020 with twelve teams, each based in a global city . Of the twelve teams, nine are based in the United States, while the remaining three are based in Canada, the United Kingdom, and France. On November 6, 2020, 100 Thieves announced that they would join the league under the name of the Los Angeles Thieves after acquiring
1072-403: A similar structure to the previous season. However, some things changed and updated since the last season. This season had several stages where teams were randomly picked and put into groups to play each other in official matches for CDL points which dictated the seeds for the teams in the CDL major events when they happened. The CDL points decide if a team starts in the losers or winners bracket at
1139-532: Is a generation more advanced than the engine used in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare . Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 uses IW 5.0 (MW3 Engine), an improved version of the IW 4.0 engine. Improvements on the engine allow better streaming technology which allows larger regions for the game while running at a minimum of 60 frames per second , improvements to the audio of the engine have also been made. Call of Duty: Ghosts features an upgraded next-generation version of
1206-704: Is headed by principal rendering engineer Michal Drobot. The Poland studio assisted in rebuilding the IW engine for the 2019 reboot of Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Warzone . In October 2021, Infinity Ward opened a new studio in Austin , Texas . In June 2023, Infinity Ward continued to expand with its fifth location, opening a studio in Barcelona , Spain to continue supporting Modern Warfare as well as assisting development in Warzone Mobile . Infinity Ward's first title, Call of Duty , won 90 Game of
1273-430: Is very happy with the result. The executive went on to say that there will be three studios working on the Call of Duty franchise including the newly formed studio Sledgehammer Games. Several lawsuits followed in the wake of West and Zampella's departure. The pair themselves initially filed suit against Activision shortly after their release to reclaim "substantial royalty payments" that Activision failed to pay them in
1340-523: The Call of Duty League. According to ESPN , the publisher was looking to sell slots for approximately $ 25 million per team. "We have the opportunity to — once again — play a pivotal role in Atlanta's diverse esports community by bringing the future of Call of Duty esports to the city," said Hamilton in a release at the time. The team, which is a partnership between Atlanta Esports Ventures and FaZe Clan ,
1407-491: The 2023 season . In the inaugural season, the three multiplayer modes used by the CDL include: "Search & Destroy", where one team attempts to plant a bomb and defend it at one of two control points while the other team tries to eliminate the bomb team, or if the bomb is activated, to defuse it in time; "Hardpoint", where a rotation control point appears on the map, and teams earn points for maintaining control on that point; and "Domination", where three control points appear on
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#17327973822191474-449: The Call of Duty series. Activision agreed, but added a clause to the contract that should they be fired, the rights to Call of Duty would fall back to Activision. Following the execution of the contract in 2008, Activision began seeking ways to find reason to fire West and Zampella to trigger the new clause. This in turn led to West and Zampella look to means to make Infinity Ward a studio outside of Activision's control. Events came to
1541-669: The Miami Heretics following a partnership with Spanish esports organization Team Heretics. On September 5, 2023, the London Royal Ravens announced a relocation to Charlotte, North Carolina , rebranding the franchise to the Carolina Royal Ravens . As of the 2023 season, 14 different teams have competed in the league, with four having won at least one Grand Finals title. This is a list of each team by stage titles won. Stage titles are won by being
1608-608: The Overwatch League , all players were based in the Atlanta area. The team's coach is James “Crowder” Crowder, known for winning the Call of Duty Championship 2015 as a member of Denial Esports . The team won the Atlanta Home Series in February 2020, followed by a win in the Florida Home Series in May, making them the second team after Dallas Empire to win two tournaments. In May 2020, Atlanta FaZe became
1675-544: The Overwatch League , founded in 2017. To prepare for establishing the League, Activision terminated both the Call of Duty Pro League and Call of Duty World League in mid-2019. The first five teams to purchase a spot for the league was announced in May 2019; the companies – OverActive Media , Atlanta Esports Ventures , Envy Gaming , c0ntact Gaming LLC, and Sterling.VC – were also parent companies for teams in Activision Blizzard's other franchised league,
1742-490: The Overwatch League . All twelve franchises were finalized in October 2019, with a majority of the franchised having never professionally competed in Call of Duty . The Washington Post estimated that the franchise cost was US$ 25 million . Initially, the CDL announced that they would be running a regular season format culminating in postseason playoffs. However, after criticism from the Call of Duty esports community,
1809-473: The 22 original team members of Infinity Ward came from the team that had worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault while at 2015, Inc. Activision helped fund Infinity Ward in its early days, buying up 30 percent of the company, before eventually fully acquiring them. The studio's first game, World War II shooter Call of Duty , was released on the PC in 2003. The day after the game was released, Activision bought
1876-473: The CDL, which is based on the legendary gaming franchise Call of Duty. Even for the 2020 CDL Modern Warfare season, the game ended up being the top-selling game of the year with 172 million downloads and $ 87 million in global consumer spending in the first two months of release. In February 2019, Activision Blizzard officially confirmed their intention to launch a city-based, franchised league for Call of Duty , marking their second such organization following
1943-462: The COVID-19 pandemic only 3 homestand style events were held, with team owners and players voting to have the league move online for the remainder of the season. The Grand Finals were held online, on August 30, in which the regular season number 2 seed Dallas Empire defeated the regular season number 1 seed Atlanta FaZe 5–1 to become the first Call of Duty League champions. The 2021 season had
2010-417: The COVID-19 virus. The growth of the league coincides with the growth of Activision Blizzard. In comparison to the Overwatch League , the CDL has made a lot more revenue and has reached a larger audience due to several aspects. The Overwatch League which is Activision Blizzard's other franchised league, did not report any substantial or revenue growth for the game itself as well as for the league. As compared to
2077-474: The COVID-19 virus. This has changed the format to where players will play in a "Cup" or tournament every weekend in order to compete for prizes and pro points. On top of the cups, the home series events will also be played online as compared to when they were played on LAN in the beginning of the MW season. Activision Blizzard , the publishers of the Call of Duty series launched the Call of Duty League and focused on
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2144-493: The Call of Duty League announced changes to the 2020 Call of Duty League Championship. Instead of 8 teams making it to the Championship weekend all 12 teams would now compete for the Championship in a double-elimination tournament. A US$ 4.6 million prize pool was announced, with the winning team taking home US$ 2 million . On July 5, 2020, the Call of Duty league announced that the postseason would also be played online as
2211-691: The HDR lighting "We used to paint it in and cover up the cracks, but now it's all real-time". Ghosts uses Iris Adjust tech which allows the player to experience from a person's point of view how their eyes would react to changes in lighting conditions realistically. Other features include new animation systems, fluid dynamics, interactive smoke, displacement mapping and dynamic multiplayer maps. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare ' s IW 7.0 features weightlessness system, game physics improvement, improved AI and improved non-player characters behaviors. Modern Warfare (2019 reboot) and Call of Duty: Warzone uses
2278-449: The IW 5.0 seen in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 . IW 6.0 is compatible with next-gen systems such as Xbox One and PlayStation 4 so polygon counts, texture detail and overall graphical fidelity has been increased. IW 6.0 is also compatible with Microsoft Windows, Wii U, PS3 and Xbox 360. The IW 6.0 engine features technology from Pixar, SubD, which increases the level of detail of models as one gets closer to them. Mark Rubin has said about
2345-636: The IWEG for US$ 42 million , while private settlements were separately reached between Activision and EA, and between Activision, West and Zampella. On March 27, 2012, Robert Bowling resigned as creative strategist of Call of Duty and a lead employee at Infinity Ward. In response, Activision issued a statement thanking Bowling for his service. When questioned about his department, Bowling responded "Too much 'pew pew' not enough new new". Signs of disagreement between Bowling and Infinity Ward arose in an interview in February 2012 when he stated: "I feel like we are in
2412-736: The Kraft Group later acquired. With this, the Boston Breach was announced as the new team heading into the 2022 season. On June 1, 2022, the Paris Legion announced that following the 2022 season, the franchise would be relocating to Las Vegas heading into the 2023 season, rebranding the franchise to the Vegas Legion . On August 24, 2023, the Florida Mutineers announced that the franchise would be rebranded to
2479-449: The US and UK alone and grossed $ 400 million within 24 hours of going on sale. Infinity Ward used an enhanced version of the id Tech 3 engine from Quake III Arena for the first Call of Duty in 2003. For Call of Duty 2 , Infinity Ward heavily modified the engine, featuring more powerful visuals and DirectX 9 support, and was known internally as the "IW" game engine. The version that
2546-525: The Year awards and 50 Editor's Choice Awards. It also continues to be among the highest-rated games, according to GameRankings . Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare enjoyed massive commercial and critical success, selling over 13 million copies from its release in November 2007 through May 2009. In 2010, Infinity Ward was ranked third by Develop 100 only running up to developer Nintendo and Bungie for
2613-425: The attackers capturing both zones within the allotted time, the defenders winning by the time expiring or by either team killing the other thirty times. The schedule is also split into five stages, with each ending with a Major Tournament. In each stage the teams are split into groups, determined by the teams themselves, via a draft system. Every team competes in each homestand event with the finals of each event being
2680-608: The best players in Challengers. This allow for greater branding and the players based on the placing of their academy teams. The events for Challengers are held offline in special locations. The dates of these events is in accordance to the actual Call of Duty League events. The first event of Modern Warfare was the Minnesota Launch Weekend event where there were professional pro league matches being played as well as Challengers events being held. However, before
2747-452: The champion of the major at the end of the stage. Stage titles started with the 2021 season. The regular season began January 24 and continued through July 2020, with a two-week post season playoffs to crown the season winners in August. Teams were due to hold in person tournaments in their respective cities with a rotation of eight of the 12 teams in attendance for each event. However, due to
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2814-464: The current contract they had under EA, Collier, West, and Zampella engaged with Activision to help establish Infinity Ward, which became one of the primary studios within Activision for the competing Call of Duty series. Initially, Activision provided Infinity Ward US$ 1.5 million for 30% stake in the company to start development on the first game Call of Duty , acquiring full ownership after
2881-544: The development of Call of Duty: Ghosts . Neversoft studio head Joel Jewett and studio director Scott Pease retired shortly after the completion of the merger. By March 2015, Infinity Ward had over 250 employees. Infinity Ward presently operates in five locations – California, Texas, Poland, Mexico and Spain. The studio in Kraków , Poland opened in December 2017. The studio serves as a research and development center, and
2948-469: The first LAN (Local Area Network) event during that weekend. Challengers players have to play in two online ladder tournaments to compete for Challengers points. This points are individual to each person and the sum of those points in accordance to everyone else on the team decides the seeding for the LAN events at home series events. However, in the middle of the 2020 season and beginning in the 2021 season, Challengers will be played in an online format due to
3015-411: The following months, many taking up positions at Respawn. West and Zampella had been replaced on an interim basis by Activision CTO Steve Pearce and head of production Steve Ackrich. By November 2010, Activision had installed new management at Infinity Ward, and Vivendi chairman and CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy stated that Infinity Ward "got over" their problems and are fully reconstructed and that Activision
3082-451: The last quarter of 2005. Collier said the request would help them lose the stigma of being only a personal computer developer, and so to make sure the console version was on parity, they tripled their staff to about 75 employees. Much of the focus of Infinity Ward's development was improving its game engine to include realistic special effects, such as smoke grenades to hinder sight, or bullets piercing through weak materials. Call of Duty 2
3149-433: The league elected to switch to a tournament system, which was officially announced in January 2020. In the days prior to the launch of the inaugural season, Activision announced it had made a multiyear deal with Google for all of its esports content, including the CDL, to be exclusively shown through YouTube . Prior Activision esports, particularly OWL, had used Twitch . Activision also announced other official sponsors of
3216-551: The league on eve of the first season: On March 9, Activision announced partnerships with both Twitter and the United States Army . On March 13, 2020, the Call of Duty League released a statement entailing that all live home series events were cancelled due to concerns over the novel COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak, to which they said that upcoming events will be done via online play and possibly return to live events if logistically and feasibly possible. On May 19, 2020,
3283-451: The map, and teams are awarded points by maintaining control of one or more of these points. In the case of "Search & Destroy" and "Domination", multiple rounds are played, switching the role of each team, while "Hardpoint" is played until a point limit is reached. Once a team has won three games in a match, the match is over, and that team given the match victory. Coaches for teams have a limited number of time outs which they can use during
3350-402: The model of the Overwatch League as well as other traditional North American professional sporting leagues by using a set of permanent, city-based teams backed by separate ownership groups. In addition, the league plays in a tournament point system and playoffs format rather than the use of promotion and relegation used commonly in other esports and non-North American leagues, with players on
3417-692: The next sequel Call of Duty 3 while Infinity Ward itself developed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare , which instead of taking place during World War II, was set in a contemporary period with a fictional conflict between superpowers. At the time of Modern Warfare ' s release, Infinity Ward had more than 100 employees. Following the critical and financially successful release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007, Jason West (president, co-CCO, and CTO) and Vince Zampella (CEO) began contract negotiations with Activision. They promised to deliver Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009, but in exchange asked for extremely large bonuses and creative control of
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#17327973822193484-608: The rest of Infinity Ward, signing employees to long-term contracts. Infinity Ward went on to make Call of Duty 2 , Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare , Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 , Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 , Call of Duty: Ghosts , Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare , the Modern Warfare reboot , and its sequel. Co-founder Collier left the company in early 2009 to join parent company Activision . In 2010, West and Zampella were fired by Activision for "breaches of contract and insubordination", they soon founded
3551-499: The roster being assured a minimum annual salary, benefits, and a portion of winnings and revenue-sharing based on how that team performs. The league was announced in 2019 with its inaugural season starting in 2020. The Call of Duty League is owned by Activision Blizzard and is the company's second franchise-based esports league. The league plays out similar to most North American professional sports leagues, in which all teams play scheduled games against other teams to vie for position in
3618-443: The season's playoffs, rather than the approach of team promotion and relegation more commonly used in other esports leagues. The league currently features twelve teams. Each match involves two teams in a best-of-five through different games based on gameplay modes and maps within the Call of Duty game. The game used depends on the most recent installment of the series, such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) being used for
3685-608: The slot vacated by OpTic Gaming Los Angeles . For the 2021 season, the Chicago Huntsmen franchise was rebranded to OpTic Chicago as Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez successfully reacquires the OpTic Gaming brand. Following the 2021 season, OpTic Gaming and Envy Gaming announced a merger. As a result, the Dallas Empire franchise was rebranded to OpTic Texas , while the former Chicago spot was put up for sale, which
3752-400: The start of the tournament. To start off the 2021 season group selections, the 2020 CDL champions Dallas Empire made the first pick of the teams they want in their group and the runner up at the 2020 CDL championships Atlanta Faze made the 2nd pick. There was a snake draft between those two teams until all teams were put into a group. In addition, the top two finishing teams in stage 1 were then
3819-407: The team represents. Teams are not required to providing housing for players during the season, and if they do not choose to offer it, the team must instead offer a means and stipend to help players to find such housing with approval from Activision. Activision also established a Call of Duty Challengers series for amateur players to compete in matches and potentially be played into teams that vie for
3886-511: The team with the highest standing in the COD League. James "Crowder" Crowder Richard "RJ" Simoncelli Roster updated July 20, 2023. Season MVP Champs MVP 1st Team All-Star 2nd Team All-Star Call of Duty League The Call of Duty League ( CDL ) is a professional esports league for the video game series Call of Duty , produced by its publisher Activision . The Call of Duty League follows
3953-472: The title was successfully launched in 2003. During this period, the studio was about 25 employees including many who followed Collier, West, and Zampella from 2015. Activision allowed Infinity Ward a great deal of freedom in how it developed its titles. Shortly after this release, Microsoft contacted Activision to seek a Call of Duty title as a launch title for the upcoming Xbox 360 console. Infinity Ward agreed to prepare Call of Duty 2 for release in
4020-484: The top 100 developers based on the sales of their games in the UK. Infinity Ward's sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare , Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 , earned over $ 550 million in sales in its first five days on the market, with $ 310 million of those sales made in the first 24 hours after the game's release. The sequel to Modern Warfare 2 , Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 , sold 6.5 million copies in
4087-430: The top teams from the weekend earns points. The top eight teams at the end of season based on points claim a berth in the playoffs. A total US$ 6 million prize pool is available to teams in the inaugural season. To standardize play at each homestand weekend, Activision constructed a transportable esports stage with input from each of the teams. To support viewership, Activision studios Infinity Ward and Beenox created
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#17327973822194154-503: The two teams for group selection in stage 2. The 2021 season consisted of 5 stages until the CDL playoffs which is the biggest tournament with the biggest prize pool. Infinity Ward Infinity Ward, Inc. is an American video game developer . They developed the video game Call of Duty , along with seven other installments in the Call of Duty series . Vince Zampella , Grant Collier, and Jason West established Infinity Ward in 2002 after working at 2015, Inc. previously. All of
4221-419: The viewing audience, though players themselves will not have this benefit. Each team must have a minimum of seven players with a maximum of ten. Players are guaranteed a minimum US$ 50,000 salary with health and other benefits, though players may negotiate for higher salaries. At least 50% of the winnings a team earns must be shared with the team members. Players are not required to live in the city/region that
4288-513: The weeks leading up to their firing, estimated to be US$ 36 million ; this figure eventually rose to over US$ 1 billion by May 2012, based on Activision's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission . Activision countersued the pair in April 2010, calling their actions to fire them justified and asserting the two were "self-serving schemers". Activision amended its suit in December 2010 to include EA as
4355-479: Was a major success, having an 85% attach rate to new Xbox 360 console sales, and selling 1.4 million units its first year. At this point, Activision brought in Treyarch , one of their internal studios, to help develop additional Call of Duty games, with Infinity Ward spending the time and effort to improve the game's engine for one game, and Treyarch using the updated engine to create a new title. Treyarch released
4422-408: Was announced in October 2019 as one of the first twelve franchises to compete in the inaugural COD League. Atlanta FaZe was the second Atlanta based team investment after Atlanta Reign from the Overwatch League , and is the third region-based team for FaZe. Atlanta announced its inaugural season roster the same month. As the league was modeled on the region-based format of traditional sports teams and
4489-618: Was used for Call of Duty 2 was designated as IW 2.0. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare runs on a highly upgraded version of the engine from Call of Duty 2 dubbed "IW 3.0", with features that include true world-dynamic lighting, HDR lighting effects , dynamic shadows and depth of field . The Call of Duty: Black Ops sub-series and the James Bond video game Quantum of Solace were developed by Treyarch using modified versions of Infinity Ward's engine. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 , uses an upgraded engine dubbed "IW 4.0", which
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