Former Call of Duty League pros Seth ‘Scump’ Abner and Anthony ‘Methodz’ Zinni have revealed their concerns with the CDL’s announcement that it will stream on both Twitch and YouTube going forward, suggesting it could be a move to go to YouTube permanently.
In February, Dexerto reported that the Call of Duty League was in talks with YouTube over a renewed three-year exclusivity deal, similar to what had been in place for the first three seasons of the CDL.
The report was widely met with anger from fans, especially due to the increasing success of the CDL on Twitch this season, with watch parties from the likes of Scump and Thomas ‘ZooMaa’ Paparatto amassing thousands of extra viewers. Because of that, Major 3 saw the CDL earn its highest viewership ever.
Following weeks of speculation online from fans, the CDL announced on Thursday, April 6, that fans are now able to watch the league on YouTube as matches will be streamed on both platforms starting from April 7.
📣 Season Update: Starting this Friday, watch #CDL2023 LIVE on both YouTube and Twitch.🔴 https://t.co/wmB1gxuPFf🟣 https://t.co/aqp9IvlcOO pic.twitter.com/yU2Q5MhmNZ
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) April 6, 2023
While the news has left many fans excited, Scump and Methodz aired their concerns about the move.
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“The one thing I hope that doesn’t happen from that, I hope that this isn’t them trying to make peace with the community,” Scump said. “Trying to make it seem like they’re on the community’s side, then [make] a full switch to YouTube.”
Methodz agreed, saying that it’s “Like a soft launch. They’re soft-launching YouTube,” he said, with Scump echoing that sentiment, adding that they could be “buttering us up.”
Whether this is actually the case remains to be seen, but it will be interesting for fans, players, and the league itself to see what the YouTube viewership looks like throughout Major 4, especially for the crowning LAN event in Columbus, Ohio.