Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III will be part of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, according to a social media post on Wednesday from the event’s official X/Twitter account and from an informal announcement on Wednesday.
“By adding two amazing Call of Duty games to the Esports World Cup, we have cemented our promise to deliver the world’s best games to esports fans everywhere,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO, Esports World Cup Foundation, in a release. “Call of Duty is the final piece of our historic EWC 2024 schedule, and we are excited to welcome its athletes and global fanbase to Riyadh this summer.”
The Call of Duty: Warzone competition (July 3 – 6) will feature 21 teams competing for a share of a $1M USD prize pool and the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III competition (August 15 – 18) will have 16 teams vying for a $1.8M prize pool. Results from these competitions contribute points to the overall Club Championship rankings.
Earlier this month The Esports Advocate that Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone were listed within the code for the event’s official website (after our reporting that code had been removed).
On June 5, a tipster (who asked not to be identified) informed TEA via email that code in the official Esports World Cup website (under Games and Tournaments) showed two announced tournaments for Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and the battle royale version of the game Call of Duty Warzone.
From the official Twitter/X account:
San Francisco, pick up your loadouts! 🎖️🌉
Prepare for epic battles on the #CallofDuty #Warzone stage during the #EsportsWorldCup! pic.twitter.com/f9VCH6fcIK
— Esports World Cup (@EWC_EN) June 12, 2024
The inclusion of Warzone and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III are not surprising, given that Activision Blizzard is already allowing Overwatch 2 and StarCraft II (through ESL) competitions at the eight-week event that runs from July – August.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone officially join other titles that are part of the Esports World Cup including Apex Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, EA Sports FC 24, Fortnite, Free Fire, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Overwatch 2, PUBG Battlegrounds, PUBG Mobile, ESL R1, Rocket League, StarCraft II, Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics, TEKKEN 8 and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Siege.
The Esports World Cup is funded by a grant from the Saudi Arabian government. Esports World Cup competitions are being facilitated by ESL FACEIT Group, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Savvy Games Group. Savvy is owned by the Saudi government. EFG is home to tournament organizer ESL, competition platform FACEIT, and esports and gaming festival company DreamHack.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with information from the official announcement.