Call of Duty fans were surprised to see CoD mobile feature a ranked playlist at launch – a feature which is often delayed by months in main entries to the series.
The community was shocked after discovering that a ranked mode would be available to CoD Mobile users immediately, unlike previous titles in the franchise, which had to wait for months after launch before the mode was installed.
The most recent example is Black Ops 4, where players had to wait for over four months for ranked play to be finally be added, and when the playlist was eventually added on February 21 there was backlash from the community that it was somewhat incomplete.
Two-Time World Champion, James ‘Clayster’ Eubanks expressed that the release of a competitive ladder on CoD Mobile’s launch felt like a slap in the face.
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“I know it’s two completely different developers and stuff but CoD Mobile launching with a fully fleshed out ranked mode is the biggest slap in the face.” The former eUnited star explained, “I’ve actually become so jaded that it’s expected at this point, but c’mon man.”
I know it's two completely different developers and stuff but CoD Mobile launching with a fully fleshed out ranked mode is the biggest slap in the face. I've actually become so jaded that it's expected at this point, but c'mon man
— Clayster (@Clayster) October 1, 2019
Former pro Joe ‘MerK’ DeLuca replied to Clayster, sharing the same sentiment explaining his thoughts on the CoD Mobile ranked play release.
“Reading the comments from everyone who has played it definitely hurts the soul a bit.” MerK If anything to me this just says, if we want to we can, but I think we all knew that.”
Clay then suggested that the usual delay in other CoD’s ranked titles could be due to a lack of resources dedicated to the competitive side of the game,
“They know they can, they just choose to not allocate enough of a team to make it what it could be,” the Call of Duty star expressed, revealing his disappointment.
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Yeah, that's the biggest part for me. We know they can, they know they can, they just choose to not allocate enough of a team to make it what it could be. There's like 10 things we need from a ranked playlist and can never seem to get all 10 at once, I'm just so disappointed.
— Clayster (@Clayster) October 1, 2019
Popular YouTuber, OMGItsBirdman, was also among the first to share his surprise with the news by highlighting how long it has taken past title to introduce Ranked Play: “Call of Duty mobile has ranked play on launch but the last 3 actual Call of Duty games took 6 months to add it in.”
Call of Duty mobile has ranked play on launch but the last 3 actual Call of Duty games took 6 months to add it in
— Anthony (@OMGItsBirdman) October 1, 2019
However, FaZe Clan’s Doug ‘Censor’ Martin took inspiration from the new CoD release, which features all of the best weapons and maps in CoD history, and proposed that they do similar for console and PC.
“Imagine if COD took the greatest maps, guns, camos, killstreaks and compiled it all into 1 video game.” the YouTube star posted, before suggesting a similar approach Fortnite’s content updates, “then added consistent DLC weekly and got rid of the yearly COD cycle and just worked on this?
Re-brand the entire franchise to literally “Call of Duty”. You see Fortnite changing gaming. Just copy what they do and add your own twist. It can’t be that difficult to do this.
— FaZe Censor (@Censor) October 2, 2019
Censor’s suggestion would likely allow for more time to be allocated towards competitive and with the Call of Duty franchise league set to get underway in 2020, it is probable that many pros would favor that approach.
Although it is unlikely to happen, at least for a few years, with Modern Warfare and the new Treyarch title already in development, fans of competitive CoD can only hope that ranked play can be added sooner some of the previous iterations.
As of now, it is unknown when ranked play is set to release for Modern warfare, as developers have hinted at an “aggressive post-launch plan” for the Infinity ward game.