
The Call of Duty franchise is one of the largest in the FPS category, and that’s largely due to a new title coming out almost every year. While this keeps things fresh and exciting for casual gamers, it creates issues for the esports community.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is coming out. The highly anticipated title brings a new and intense campaign based on real-life war as well as upgraded movement features and more in its multiplayer mode. Black Ops 6 becomes the new title in Call of Duty esports — here’s what this means for the esports scene as a whole.
Biggest Changes in Black Ops 6
Even though a new Call of Duty game comes out annually, there are still some big changes between each title that should be mentioned. Here are some that will impact competitive play for ranked gamers as well as pros.
Omnimovement
The mobility options in Black Ops 6 will shake up tournament play. Omnimovement allows players to run, sprint, and even dive in every direction. This means more aggressive movement and even more opportunities to keep active.
Camera Motion
The camera motion has been reduced for sprinting and sliding. Basically, you will be able to get a more focused visual of yourself when making fast movements.
Maps
There are 16 new maps when Black Ops 6 launches, all created for varied multiplayer modes. Players will have to learn new maps to better understand what strategies work best and the smartest spots for peaking.
Weapons and Equipment
Just like the maps, Black Ops has added new weapons and equipment. This includes the Blast Trap that has to be planted strategically and Semtex, a timed grenade. You can also regenerate health with the Stim Shot, now a piece of tactical equipment.
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Changing Games, Changing Esports
Once Black Ops 6 is released, all future Call of Duty esports events and tournaments will switch to this new game. This is exciting for audiences in general, but there are some concerns for the pros.
First, think of games like Counter-Strike, League of Legends, and Dota 2. CS:GO to CS2 had barely any impactful changes to its gameplay. LoL and Dota 2 have not had sequels since they became esports. While there are balance changes and new characters added, these games have a base that’s largely the same every year.
Meanwhile, Call of Duty releases a brand new game every year. With these new games come entirely new weapons, movement, maps, and more. Games will switch from modern weapons and settings to old-school weapons and settings, requiring the pros to jump from style to style while remaining at the top of their game.
For the past few months, pros have been concerned about “dolphin diving,” which allows them to essentially dive onto the ground and shoot while sliding on their backs. One content creator showed himself diving out of a window and landing onto his back on the ground below, shooting unsuspecting players. Others have started using dolphin diving to quick-scope with their snipers while performing crazy and chaotic movements.
The Downside to Changing Esports: Burnout Among Pro Players
Burnout is a massive problem in the esports scene as a whole. The Overwatch League was notorious for churning out “retired” players due to the game’s constantly changing meta and even the switch from two tank team structure to one, removing the need for many tank pros. Burnout happens in esports due to the game’s constant updates, changes, and metas. Top gamers constantly have to adapt, grind new characters, learn new maps, and more.
RELATED: How “meta” impacts esports
Call of Duty pro Colt “Havok” McLendon announced retirement back in 2023 citing burnout and mental health concerns. The former Florida Mutineer was only 25 at the time.
In an interview with Esports Illustrated he explained: “I stopped streaming, actually, just to kind of focus on just the game and like the team just to be there 100% and try to handle both things. But I don’t think I realised that streaming was more of an outlet for me, and I think it actually helped kind of not burn me out in a way.
“But then, like, we started playing even more because we were losing, we weren’t performing the best. And then we went to play Minnesota at their home series, and we just did not perform how we were performing in scrims and from how much work we were putting in; I just got like, I could tell my mental health was like going down a downward spiral. And it just kept spiraling.”
Despite pro players feeling stressed about the pressures of mastering a new CoD title, Call of Duty has continued to be one of the most popular games to bet on — perhaps even because of the chaos that comes from new games and updates shaking up the scene. There are definitely a lot of upsets and exciting storylines, which is what has kept Call of Duty as the fifth largest esports when it comes to betting within the Kambi network.
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