The Call of Duty Challengers Finals 2022 event, a tournament featuring eight teams from around the world with a $250K prize pool, has come under fire for its “embarassing” setup with low-grade equipment and minimal production value.
After a full year of competing online at the amateur level, CoD’s best up-and-coming teams from North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region have been flown out to Los Angeles.
Eight squads are now in town for the year-ending tournament. With a $250K prize up for grabs, it’s the biggest amateur LAN competition of the Vanguard cycle. Though just from looking at the setup, you wouldn’t think as much.
Photos of the Challengers setup have surfaced online and it’s safe to say the CoD community isn’t happy with the quality.
“This is the entire Challengers setup in LA for Champs,” The Rotation said on Twitter as the account shared a first look at the LAN setup. Gaming PCs are set up directly across the table from one another in just a few square meters.
This is the ENTIRE Challengers setup in LA for Champs. No stage. No spectator area. Nothing. pic.twitter.com/bS1kc3kcQX
— The Rotation (@_TheRotation) August 4, 2022
There’s no big screen for fans to watch along, no stage elevating the players, and nothing in the hall to signify the event. To any member of the general public passing by, they’d have no idea a CoD event is in focus, let alone the most high-stakes tournament of the year with the winners securing a six-figure payday.
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Making matters worse beyond the raw visual, players also reported the gaming equipment itself wasn’t up to snuff. For those competing at the very highest level, they’re often decked out with top-of-the-range equipment to maximize their performance. At this $250K event, however, players aren’t even competing on 240hz monitors.
Naturally, the quality of this setup has been the point of ridicule far and wide across social media.
“[$250K] prize pool and this is the venue they’re getting? That’s embarrassing” one fan said on Twitter. “Whoever is in charge of putting this together looks bad, sad stuff for a franchise league,” another chimed in.
Call of Duty League officials are yet to address the backlash. Given the Challengers Finals get underway in just a few hours, there’s little time left to make any last-minute improvements.