Indeed, the start of the Call of Duty League in 2020 was hampered by the state of the world back then. However, another factor was a suffocated level of viewership and a format needing revision. Yet, Call of Duty Esports 2023 looks to be turning a new page, one with new peaks of viewership!
Call of Duty Esports – Free From YouTube
Accordingly, let’s kick off by focusing on the pertinent YouTube exclusivity deal. Worth $160 million, the partnership was YouTube’s attempt at competing with Twitch.
Indeed, all the Blizzard esports – Call of Duty, Overwatch and Hearthstone were affected as all other esports continued to enjoy Twitch as the most popular platform for esports viewership.
While the YouTube platform offered benefits such as rewinding and more stable connections, the lack in popularity of the platform affected esports viewership for all the Blizzard esports.
Now, heading into the 2023 season for the CDL, the deal has expired and Blizzard declined to resign the deal. Streaming freely on Twitch and the CDL website, some instant success has already been registered.
CDL Stage 1 Major 2023 – Ranking High
Moreover, the first Major of the year for 2023 had multiple things going for it:
- Pro-Am Format – Challenger Teams and League Teams competing against one another
- MWII Sales – this year’s title is officially the best-selling CoD ever – the excitement for the title is there
Taking place offline at the Raleigh Convention Center, $500,000 was on the line for the attending teams. With regards to viewership, here’s what the Major scored according to Esports Charts:
- Average Viewers – 112,276
- Peak Viewers – 159,455
For an opening event, these are some awesome figures to go off from!
How does 2023 compare?
So, let’s give some context. Take a look to see the peak viewership for the past three years of Stage 1 Majors:
- 2023 – 159,455 Peak Viewers
- 2022 – 157,421 Peak Viewers
- 2021 – 118,076 Peak Viewers
Following a steady increase, the Major sits nicely at the top of the tower.
However, while the Major viewership was great, the Major Qualifiers viewership was actually even better! Specifically, the qualifiers were the 7th most viewed competitive CoD event ever – comparable to World Championships!
- Call of Duty League 2020 Finals – Peak Viewers 331,558
- CoD World League Championship 2018 – Peak Viewers 324,086
- Call of Duty League 2022 Playoffs – Peak Viewers 275,244
- Call of Duty League Championship 2021 – Peak Viewers 238,794
- CoD World League Vegas – Peak Viewers 200,859
- Call of Duty World League Championship – Peak Viewers 189,217
- CDL 2023 Stage 1 Major Qualifiers – Peak Viewers 184,583
It’s always surprising to see Qualifiers registering more viewership than Majors – though do note that some of the favourite teams did see an early exit.
High Hopes for CDL Championship
Usually, the highest peak of viewership is seen at the very end of the season. Considering this impressive start, we have very high hopes that CDL Championship this season could set new records for Call of Duty esports.
Call of Duty Esports 2023 – What Could Success Bring?
Consequently, this season could be huge for competitive Call of Duty.
Ever since its conception, the Call of Duty League has not merited expansion of the franchised league. Multiple years later, a successful season here could finally prompt the investments needed to expand the league and scale it upwards.
Also, considering that MWII will be the featured Call of Duty for 2 years, it needs to succeed for the longevity of the title heading into 2023.
We can’t wait to see how viewership changes over the course over the year. Keep up to date with CoD esports on esportsguide here.
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