Peak Viewership for Championship Tops Previous Mark by more than
40%; Championship Weekend also Surpasses more than 20 million views
Epic Conclusion to Call of Duty XP Also Delivers Biggest Online
Community Engagement in Franchise to Date
SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Team EnVyUs' thrilling win over Splyce in last Sunday's epic showdown,
pitting the top American squad head-to-head against Europe's top team at
the Call of Duty® World League Championship, presented by PlayStation®4
was the most viewed esports event in Call of Duty history. Fans tuned-in
to Sunday's epic conclusion held at Call of Duty® XP, to watch these two
hard-charging teams compete for their share of $2M - the biggest prize
purse in franchise history. Broadcast across five languages, the
worldwide peak concurrent viewership topped the previous record for Call
of Duty esports events by more than 40%, including previous COD
Championship and Stage Finals. Combined the Call of Duty Championship
matches surpassed more than 20 million views.
"Sunday's Finals were the perfect conclusion to the biggest fan
celebration in our history with Call of Duty XP and to the debut season
of the CWL," said Rob Kostich, EVP and GM, Call of Duty, Activision.
"With over 1,000 teams participating from all over the globe, it came
down to the final two elite squads, one from North America and one from
Europe. It was an epic, raucous finale that capped an incredible weekend
of action that was watched around the world by millions. We cannot thank
the Call of Duty community enough for their support, it has been
incredible all year long."
Team EnVyUs' win capped the epic four-day celebration of Call of Duty XP
in LA, hosted by Activision
Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard,
Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI). The multi-day fan celebration also saw the most
engagements online in franchise history.
The esports competition was held in front of a sold-out audience of
thousands of fans inside the Forum in Inglewood as teams attempted to
survive four days of intense competition playing Black Ops III. The
action was shown around the world via Twitch, MLG.TV, YouTube as well as
viewed in-game itself (Black Ops III PS4) on the Live Event Viewer.
Reflecting the worldwide appeal of the CWL, the action was produced and
broadcast in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. According to
Activision, more than 40% of the viewing audience tuned-in from Europe.
The inaugural Call of Duty World League Championship, presented by
PlayStation®4 season has consistently captivated fans throughout the
year. Heading into the CWL Championship, Call of Duty competitive fans
had already viewed more than 1.1 billion minutes of content across 100
million tune ins.
In total, the year-long prize purse for the CWL was over $3.5 million.
Fans can re-live the Championship action on the Call of Duty YouTube
Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/CALLOFDUTY/videos.
Be sure to check out https://www.callofduty.com/esports
and follow @CODWorldLeague on Twitter,
Instagram,
and Twitch
for the latest CWL updates. Call of Duty World League, Presented by
PlayStation®4 is proud to partner with Major League Gaming. Through
MLG's proven live streaming capabilities and technology, CWL fans can
watch the Black Ops III esports action on MLG.TV and in-game (Black Ops
III PS4) through Live Event Viewer.
About Activision Publishing, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc.
is a leading global producer and publisher of interactive entertainment.
Activision maintains operations throughout the world. More information
about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com
or by following @Activision.
© 2016 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION and CALL OF DUTY are
trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc.
MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING is a registered trademark of Major League Gaming
Corp.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160912005462/en/
Activision Publishing, Inc.
Robert Taylor, 310-496-5206
PR
Manager
Robert.Taylor@activision.com
Source: Activision Publishing, Inc.
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