Call of Duty Vanguard – Potential impact of Vanguard on CoD League

The Call of Duty series is one of the longest-standing shooters in gaming. While its esports scene isn’t as old as games like CS GO, it is hard to doubt its impact on the genre, especially for more casual shooter games.

In recent years, the Call of Duty League has become a major force in competitive esports. Its big tournaments are some of the most exciting around, and Call of Duty betting has carved its own piece of the market. That’s alongside the launch of Warzone, a Battle Royale whose popularity rivals PUBG and Fortnite, giving the CoD series a much needed air of versatility and novelty. It was in Warzone last week, where got the first details of Call of Duty Vanguard. The new title returns the series to the World War II theater with plenty of new game mechanics and game modes.

Most esports stick with a single game for the long term, Call of Duty regularly switches over to its latest title, so Vanguard will be in play for the Call of Duty League pretty soon.

Call of Duty Vanguard

© Call of Duty

Call of Duty Vanguard

The Call of Duty series remains very popular, even as it sticks to the one game a year release schedule. The latest release is going to be Call of Duty Vanguard. This was initially announced as part of a Warzone event. We’ve got a lot of details on how the game is going to work both in multiplayer and the campaign mode. The campaign is being set around the Second World War. Missions will take place on all fronts of the war. This is another return to this period, but it does look like it is taking a unique approach this time around.

In terms of the multiplayer, we’ve got a good look at what’s coming at launch. There are going to be at least 20 maps available from the beginning of the game. We can likely expect the complex Gunsmith attachment system from the last two titles to hold over too. The well-liked and honed Call of Duty game modes are all going to be present here.

Vanguard Warzone

In terms of Warzone, Call of Duty Vanguard is going to be bringing new content to the game in much the same way as Cold War did. This means more weapons and likely a new map a few months after the game has been released. They’ll also be sharing a Battle Pass and progression system. However, there is one major QoL change coming with Vanguard; anti-cheating. Warzone is getting decent anti-cheat systems alongside Vanguard. Why such a basic feature is being withheld until Warzone’s third tie in-game hasn’t quite been explained.

Call of Duty Vanguard Esports

In terms of esports, Call of Duty Vanguard will mean big changes for the Call of Duty League. Since the game stick to the most recent Call of Duty, they’ll be switching over to Vanguard. This means that payers will have to adjust to the new balance of power within the game’s meta, like the alterations to which weapons work the best and even which categories of weapons have the best impact.

The Call of Duty League has been a big success, but it is still young. There will have to be some work put in to ensure that a badly balanced game doesn’t throw off the careful League system that has been built. However, developers have to date shown the capacity to do this.

Additionally, each new change in CoD has brought on a massive shift in league rules and structure. From different squad numbers to different game modes, it’s good that game tries to keep things fresh, but at some point the year to year change might pose too big of a challenge for pros to keep track. ATL FaZe dominated the CDL in Black Ops Cold War. By the time Vanguard arrives we might have a whole new set of favorites and a completely different league.

For Warzone, the Call of Duty Vanguard announcement is great as it promises new content, but frustrating in a way. Warzone’s relationship with cheating has always been a big problem and one that developers seem to have been largely ignoring. Learning that they’ve made some new countermeasures is great, withholding it to promote a new Call of Duty title is a bit of a weird move. Warzone’s popularity has definitely been dented by the number of cheaters in the game, so we’ll have to see if this period affects things.