FormaL explains why $1.2m World Series of Warzone is facing an uphill battle

Jacob Hale
OpTic Formal on World Series of Warzone

The announcement of the World Series of Warzone was met with huge excitement from the Warzone community, but OpTic Chicago pro Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper has some reservations about it.

The tournament series — which will feature trio and duo tournaments in both Europe and North America — has a total $1.2 million prize pool, with the very best pros and creators vying for the chance to compete.

With names such as Tommey, Aydan, HusKerrs are expected to be involved, all 12 Call of Duty League teams will also be able to select a squad to compete too.

Despite that, FormaL isn’t completely convinced by the concept and has spoken a little about his thoughts on the WSOW.

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Appearing on the OpTic podcast, the topic naturally moved onto the huge announcement, as Warzone’s biggest tournament series yet.

“That’s the problem: it’s so hard to get a perfect system,” he said when discussions around the format came up. “You could say ‘let’s throw them all in a custom lobby’ but then you just have everyone in houses getting cracked in the windows. That’s not that fun to watch.”

He continued, saying that the alternative solution isn’t much better either. “Or, it’s like, go to bot lobbies. Now you have all these different things like the cheating, the f**king VPNs, you know what I’m saying?”

Topic starts at 17:55

He went on to say that it would be “sick” if the tournament format was based strictly on kills, with placement meaning “nothing” — though teammate Seth ‘Scump’ Abner disagreed, saying that placement “has to have some meaning.”

According to the official World Series of Warzone announcement, points will be based on kills in custom lobbies, with multipliers dependent on placement. This is very similar to a Twitch Rivals tournament won by Tommey in April, which fans and players alike really enjoyed. This could be the middle ground that FormaL would be happy with.

The World Series of Warzone kicks off on June 23, with Open Qualifiers taking place on June 20.

About The Author

Jacob is Dexerto’s UK Editor and Call of Duty esports specialist. With a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing, he previously worked as an Editor at Ginx TV. Jacob was nominated for Journalist of the Year at the 2023 Esports Awards. Contact: jacob.hale@dexerto.com.