Press Release Details

First Ever Call of Duty World League's (CWL) Global Pro League Presented by PlayStation® 4, Kicks Off Tomorrow in Columbus, OH

April 20, 2017 at 1:00 PM EDT

Top 16 Teams Worldwide to Compete over 10 Weeks, Through Two Epic Stages, Each with $700,000 in Prizing, to Determine Field for 2017 Call of Duty World League Championship, Presented by PlayStation 4

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The first-ever Call of Duty World League Global Pro League starts tomorrow. Over the next 10 weeks the top 16 Call of Duty professional teams from around the globe will face off across two stages of competition, each offering $700,000 in prize purses. Placements in the Global Pro League will dictate seeding in the grand finale of the Call of Duty year, the Call of Duty World League Championship, where another $1.5M will be on the line, bringing the total CWL prizing to $4M for the year.

Through the next five weekends, 16 professional teams will descend on the MLG Arena in Columbus, OH for the Stage 1 competitions. In addition to the $700,000 payout, the teams will be competing for seeding heading into the Stage 2 contests starting in June in Columbus. The 16 teams hail from North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

"The competition across the CWL this year has been incredible," said Rob Kostich, EVP and general manager of Call of Duty, Activision. "The Global Pro League is bringing together the top teams to battle head-to-head not only for some serious prize money at each stage, but also to claim their spot for the biggest competition of the year, the CWL Champs. The stakes only go up from here."

The groups and schedule for Stage 1 contests:

  • Team EnVyUs, Splyce, Cloud 9, Mindfreak - April 21 - 23
  • FaZe Clan, Rise Nation, Fnatic, Evil Geniuses - April 28 - 30
  • eUnited, Luminosity Gaming, Millenium, Epsilon - May 5 - 7
  • OpTic Gaming, Red Reserve, Enigma6 Group, Elevate - May 12 - 14
  • Playoffs of the top eight teams - May 21 - 23

The teams secured their spot for the Stage 1 Global Pro League by earning CWL Pro Points through months of intense Call of Duty competition. Featuring group play, the Stage 1 action will unfold over the next five weekends as teams compete in double round-robin competition and look to continue the action into Stage 2 competition starting June 29.

The top two teams from each group move on to the playoffs and automatically qualify for Stage 2 of the Global Pro League. The bottom team in each group will need to battle their way back into Stage 2 through relegation matches. More information on the full seeding and schedule can be found at http://www.callofduty.com/cwl.

Both stages of the Global Pro League lead up to the biggest Call of Duty World League tournament of the year, the 2017 CWL Championship. The 32 best teams worldwide will qualify to compete in pool play, with the top half advancing into the Championship double-elimination bracket for their share of the $1.5 million event prize pool. In addition to the Global Pro League, teams will have one last chance to qualify for the CWL Championships with regional LANs in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. More details, including ticket information will be announced soon.

For those interested in attending the five weekends of exciting Call of Duty esports competition in Columbus, tickets are on sale now at mlg.tv. Fans can also catch all of the matches streamed live via Infinite Warfare PS4™ through the in-game viewer and mlg.tv/callofduty.

Call of Duty World League Presented by PlayStation®4 is proud to partner with Major League Gaming Corp. as North American tournament operator and broadcast partner for the upcoming season. Through MLG's proven live streaming capabilities and technology, MLG.tv will help to deliver the CWL Pro League across mlg.tv/callofduty.

For the latest intel on the Call of Duty World League Presented by PlayStation®4 and for live broadcasts check out: http://www.callofduty.com/cwl, tv.majorleaguegaming.com/channel/cwl, www.youtube.com/majorleaguegaming, or follow @CODWorldLeague on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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 and is a division of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), an S&P 500 company. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com or by following @Activision.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements about the expected dates, features, prizes and events of the Call of Duty World League Global Pro League and the Call of Duty World League Championship are forward-looking statements, that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, and CALL OF DUTY INFINITE WARFARE are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc.

MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING is a trademark of Major League Gaming Corp.

All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

Activision Publishing, Inc.
Robert Taylor, 310-496-5206
PR Manager
Robert.Taylor@activision.com

Source: Activision Publishing, Inc.

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