CouRage explains “horrible” problem hurting the CDL’s viewership

Jack ‘CouRage’ Dunlop has pinpointed Call of Duty’s “horrible” ranked modes as a potential reasons for the CDL’s lacklustre viewership, suggesting a better in-game system would push players towards watching streams. 

The Call of Duty League’s second season has finally made its return to LAN events with the Stage IV Major taking place in Arlington, Texas. Despite the excitement, storylines and top-tier CoD, the CDL’s viewership has left a lot to be desired.

During Friday night’s matches it was hovering somewhere between 15,000 and 30,000 viewers. While still significant numbers, with the amount of money invested in CoD esports, the amount of followers big players have and the potential of esports to pull in millions of viewers, the numbers will surely be disappointing senior figures at Activision.

Naturally, discussion turned to the reasons for this lacklustre viewership, and what could be done to change it. CouRage, content creator and full-time YouTube streamer, pinpointed the lack of consistency with a Ranked mode in CoD titles.

Black Ops Cold War does have League Play, but it was added months after the game’s release and, some argue, falls short of the lofty standards set by Black Ops II’s League Play way back in 2012.

“I’m seeing a lot of talk around Call of Duty viewership,” he tweeted. “People fighting about Twitch vs YouTube, GAs vs no GAs, and time between matches. For me, the biggest thing is that every other top esport has a competitive and exciting ranked system. CoD ranked has always been horrible.”

While most CoDs do eventually get Ranked modes, they differ considerably between Call of Duty titles, and some never get more than a CDL ruleset playlist.

CouRage, as an ex-CWL (the precursor to the CDL) caster, has long called for consistency in CoD’s ranked modes. He elaborated: “It has so much potential. I want CDL to be successful so damn bad. I’d just love to speak with executives just once to have them hear my peace. I think it would be wildly productive.”

CouRage even promised an “intense SnD” series with NICKMERCS, TimTheTatman and Cloakzy if CoD ever gets the ranked mode he feels it deserves.

Other reasons have also been highlighted for the CDL’s struggle to amass large audiences – advert heavy broadcasts and time between matches have been criticized, or the popularity of Warzone potentially detracting from Cold War’s player-base.

Whatever the reasons, a strong in-game Ranked mode seems like a great place to start.