Activision and pro players around the world are gearing up for the Call of Duty League 2020 later this year. It is the first season of the event. Along with it, players who are not professionals have the chance to earn their shot in the big leagues by taking part in the Call of Duty League Challengers.

Activision Releases Call of Duty League Challengers Info

After teases and vague info, Activision finally revealed information regarding the upcoming Call of Duty League Challengers. The sub-section of the normal league kicks off later this month.

Though most of the spotlight has been on the main league that will feature franchised teams based in various cities around the United States, Canada and parts of Europe, the Challengers will be another portion players can check out. It might even be more exciting since it can be a breakthrough for aspiring competitive players.

As we near the launch of the league, Activision has revealed the first official details about the upcoming Call of Duty League Challengers division. We now know how the Challengers works, when the first event for them is, what the prizes will be, and the overall schedule for the division. Without further ado, let’s go ahead and look at everything we know thus far.

What Is the Call of Duty League Challengers Division?

It all begins with the simple question of what is the Call of Duty League Challengers? If you are hearing about this division for the first time, you might find yourself wondering what exactly it is. After all, the main league is getting all the attention currently.

It is another division of the league for amateurs and other pro players who aren’t actively participating in the current season of the league. These players are the ones who are not part of the franchised teams but have the hopes of one day being in the main event.

This is like the little leagues in other sports where players can work their way up. Hopefully, they can find their way to the pro system through this official path Activision created. But even if the player doesn’t make their way to the pro league someday, there are prizes and fame available just here.

Check out our blog post for more information on the Call of Duty Challengers season to come: https://t.co/RLCUUCihHp pic.twitter.com/vPHRvVUbVU

— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) December 18, 2019

How the Launch Weekend Works for Challengers

The Call of Duty League Challengers division kicks off in Minneapolis, Minnesota later this month, the same time as the main league during launch weekend. While the main league is going on, the Challengers have their competition to go through.

Activision the launch weekend is already sold out for fans. The two main competitions include the 12 league teams and the Challengers. The Challengers have a much larger event than the main one.

Currently, 192 teams are participating in the Challengers division launch weekend event. Teams compete live at the event for a share of the massive $250,000 prize pool. Though they aren’t part of the main event, they still get some fantastic prizes if they do well.

Their placement during the tournament determines the prizes they receive. The first-place team walks away with $80,000, the largest share of the enormous prize pool.

The second-place team gets $40,000, third place gets $25,000, fourth place gets $20,000 and fifth and sixth place get $12,500 each. Seventh and eighth place receives $7,500 while the ninth through 12th place teams gets $6,250. Finally, the 13th through 16th place teams get $5,000.

No other prize amounts were announced for the other well over 100 teams participating so we aren’t sure what they might get, if anything, for competing in the tournament.

Challengers Schedule for Launch Weekend and Beyond

The Call of Duty League Challengers launch weekend schedule begins January 23 before the actual competition. From 6 p.m.-9 p.m. local time that day, competitors have the chance to check-in and get ready for the following day.

Check-in continues on January 24 from 9 a.m.-noon. At 1 p.m., the competition begins for the Challengers division. It goes throughout the day as well as on January 25 at 10 a.m. local time.

On January 26, the final day of the tournament begins at 10 a.m. All competitors for the launch weekend event must finalize their rosters and invites before January 20 at 3 p.m. PT.

While the launch event is going to be massive, it is far from the only one for the Call of Duty League Challengers division. All the main league teams will host challenger competitions in their home markets. Each of the Home Series events includes a Challengers tournament.

The tournament will be a 10K series event, much smaller overall than the upcoming main event. These tournaments only have around 32 to 64 teams in their brackets rather than the 192 teams competing later this month.

The tournaments at the Home Series events each have a minimum cash prize of at least $10,000. It is likely to go up with the number of teams competing, sponsorships, and so on.

In addition to the Home Series Weekend events for the Challengers division throughout the inaugural season of the league, some of the main teams will be hosting additional Challengers events. The extra events take place in their home markets throughout the 2020 season and have their own prizes.

Though there will be a lot of teams participating in each of the Challengers events, Activision and the league will provide equipment to use throughout the tournament. Equipment includes an Asus VG245H monitor connected to a PlayStation 4 Pro console and a USB device CronusMax CM00049. Unfortunately, players have to bring their controller and headset for each event.

This is good, though, since they can bring their personalized controllers to use for the event. However, there is no option to play the event on the Xbox One or PC systems. It could be due to a contract or partnership with Sony, but we are not sure at this time.

While the first launch weekend takes place in Minnesota by the main league team Rokkr, the rest of the Home Series Weekend events will be held by the other teams in the league. This includes the Challengers. We don’t know too much about the rest of the schedule for the season, but we do know what is coming after the launch.

Soon after the launch weekend, the first Home Series Weekend event takes place in London Royal Ravens in England. It follows a different format where only eight of the 12 main league teams compete for points to see who moves up and down through the official standings.

While the Home Series Weekend event is going on, we will likely see the first non-launch weekend Challengers division tournament. It is unknown if the playoffs and championship match later on in the season have an accompanying Challengers division event. Stay tuned for more info about the Challengers and main league as Activision announces it.