Activision Blizzard admits bleak future for CDL & OWL

In a recent SEC filing, Activision Blizzard admitted facing a bleak future regarding the future “longevity” of the Call of Duty and Overwatch Leagues, as both struggle with financial problems.

Activision Blizzard filed an SEC report on Thursday, May 4th, which disclosed how the company sees the future of CDL and OWL in a section titled “Management’s Overview of Business Trends”.

Teams are in debt

According to the last year’s report by esports journalist Jacob Wolf, both leagues have teams that collectively owe about $400 million in late franchise payments.

This massive debt has been postponed again and again for the past 3 years. The Justice Department also settled its lawsuit over alleged salary caps on players’ salaries in both leagues in early April. Trying to make both leagues more profitable could prove too expensive.

Activision commented on its prized games like CoD, Diablo, Overwatch, and Warcraft:

“Overall, we anticipate that our most popular franchises will continue to account for a disproportionate share of our revenue and profits for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, our ability to sustain these franchises and successfully compete with the wide array of competing titles in the industry could significantly impact our performance.”

AB doubts longevity

Activision’s public questioning of the longevity of the CDL and OWL is a new source of concern for the company’s investors and esports fans alike. But the publisher has plans on how to increase its revenue, and that includes a whole lot more seasonal content in live service and free-to-play titles.

Activision said it is “continuously looking for additional ways to grow our franchises and games”, including continuing goals to “increase player engagement” with seasonal content in live-service games like CoD to publish such content more frequently.

The company also acknowledged that it has experienced “challenges in retaining our existing talent and attracting new talent” in the game development space, but it has “seen increasingly positive trends in these areas.”

So, Activision Blizzard is not exactly rosy about the future of Call of Duty and the Overwatch League. The Overwatch League in particular had a particularly difficult time. It has faced difficulties as its Chinese franchise teams faced the NetEase drama and the closure of Blizzard titles in mainland China.

The league also doesn’t have any major sponsors for this season, as many of them have pulled out of Activision Blizzard over the whole workplace and sexism scandal. Things are a little better for the Call of Duty League. It seems to be in a more stable state because there are still esports organizations still trying to enter the league.

The most recent example of this is Team Heretics, who are looking to merge with the Florida Mutineers to create a new fusion team called Miami Heretics.

Header: Activision Blizzard