CWL Director Kevin Flynn On Building the Call of Duty World League
By Nicholas Barth ·
Twin Galaxies was able to catch up and sit down with the Director of the Call of Duty World League and get an inside look at what makes one of the largest esports leagues in the world tick.
With the introduction of the Call of Duty World League (CWL) in Call of Duty: Black Ops III, the legendary first peron shooter became the latest esports title to have a league to call their own. With a massive increase in prize money and glory on the line through the creation of the league, the stakes have never been higher for professional Call of Duty players and their teams. While covering the latest league event in CWL Atlanta, we were able to sit down with CWL Director Kevin Flynn and discuss what goes into having one of the largest esports leagues in the world run like a well oiled machine.
Twin Galaxies: What are some of the difficulties of setting up a Call of Duty World League caliber event?
"In terms of coming to a big city and setting up an event of this scale, it is probably the logistics that are some of the bigger challenges. Bringing together all of the different components, such as the Game Battle stations, the open bracket, all of our partners and of course the main stage. It is just juggling all of the different parts, but Adam Apicella, who runs the team and the live events, and his extended team do a fantastic job of bringing it to life. "
TG: How rewarding is it to see all of the hard work come together?
"One of the biggest positives of the CWL are those rewarding moments, as they can happen anywhere in the venue. They can happen when you have a very hyped up match in the open bracket and you have the fans crowded around the players to see what is going on. You go back to the main stage and you hit the highs and hear the crowd cheering when they see that high level Call of Duty happening right there in front of them, their appreciation and recognition is definitely one of those moments. This has gone back the past couple years of the CWL, as we have had those highs at these events, and they are always a great time. "
TG: What prompted the creation of the Call of Duty World League?
"I think that it is just the evolution of esports generally as an industry. Competitive Call of Duty goes back at least to the first COD XP if not earlier than that, so Call of Duty and esports have had a relationship together for several years. It felt like the natural progression and evolution of that was to formalize and to introduce some structure. A lot of things have ramped up in that, such as the production, what the players are playing for and the skill level all have gone up through the years, so it just felt natural as the next step for Activision and the Call of Duty business to take. "
TG: How has the competition in Call of Duty: WWII been compared to games in years past?
" We don't tend to make that much of a direct comparison. I know that this year started off brillantly with a lot of enthusiasm around the return to more traditional Call of Duty mechanics and we have certainly benefited from that. Our open events have sold out very fast. We go from here (Atlanta) to Birmingham in England for probably the biggest ever non-North American Call of Duty event, so seeing the appetite and the willingness of the community and the players to come together and compete over these weekends is brilliant to see."
TG: In what ways would you like to see the CWL grow in the future?
"The small CWL team that we do have works extremely hard to grow the league. Our PR team just recently gone live with a Rolling Stone feature which is brilliant to see us outside of the core esports audience. Introducing personalities like Madcat to a Rolling Stones audience is awesome to see. We want to keep getting bigger and keep doing better for the players and the fans who come to our events. We are a very ambitious bunch and we are always striving for the next step and stop.
TG: Will the CWL ever expand and focus on other regions in the world, such as Australia?
"A lot of it will depend on our partners and the right times. I think the CWL has displayed a decent commitment to Australia. We had an online league in the first year for Black Ops III and had a couple of LAN events there last year. We made a decision to try and deliver best in class experiences for players and fans who attend our events, and we feel that we can do that better here in North America generally at the moment. What we have done is guarantee a path to these events for the Australian community through our national circuit, so we have seen Australian teams come here and compete. They have had a good history with the CWL generally. We will always appraise, review and think about where we are going next, but what we want to make sure is that there is a path to our events for players all around the world, and I think we have continued to deliver on that. "
TG: Do you believe Call of Duty will ever transition to the franchise model as other esports league have done or will it remain in the tournament style?
"We talk to our collegeaues on the Overwatch League team. We have watched their successful launch. I have been to the arena a couple of times, and it is a fabulous experience. We will continue to keep watching and learning as that develops, and while we are doing that we will continue to focus on delivering the best experiences that we can in the CWL."
The next stop for the CWL in the Call of Duty: WWII season will be CWL Birmingham from March 30th to April 1st, as the best teams in the professional scene will descending onto the United Kingdon to compete for a share of the $200,000 prize pool. Looking to help deliver the best experience to the competing players and fans, Kevin Flynnn will be at the forefront of running another successful CWL event.
(Cover photo courtesy of Activision)