Former Call of Duty League employee exposes “low-to-no priority” Challengers stance
With the Call of Duty League’s third season on the horizon, a former Call of Duty League employee has exposed the league’s “low-to-no priority” stance on its path-to-pro Challengers scene.
From OpTic Texas’ creative director David ‘Hitch’ Edwards and CoD pros claimingCall of Duty: Vanguard “spits in the face” of the CoD esport scene, toMatthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag and Dr Disrespect slamming the CDLafter the HCS’ record-breaking return… the CDL has not been in the most ideal spot in the pro scene’s eyes.
While already under fire with constant criticism from both fans and pros alike, a now-formerCDL employee has revealed the league’s stance on its Challengers scene, bringing forth even more bad news to the esport.
CDL considers Challengers “low-to-no priority”?
Upon announcing his retirement on Twitter, former Manager of Competition Operations for the CDL, Matthew Zaborowski explained onTwitterhow the Challengers scene is “low-to-no priority for most of the CDL organization.”
His work contributed to a plethora of changes for the league’s Challenger scene, including bringing in the Latin America region, more readily accessible VODs, and much more.
GG. On the 31st I will be leaving CDL and ending my career in esports
Read:https://t.co/Do7lDqg3Lx
— Matt (@DotZeb)August 19, 2025
“Over the last 2 years, we introduced events to spotlight the top Challengers talent, brought in the Latin America region, and had broadcasts/VODs where they otherwise wouldn’t have happened,” he said. “It is far from everything I wanted to do, but I do hope I have done right by the community.”
But Zaborowski claims that this low-priority stance has “resulted in little internal resourcing, attention, and mindshare given to the program.”
Regardless of the stance, the former CDL employee still saw a positive outlook upon his departure from the league.
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“[I had] conversations with leadership on my out [that] gave me some belief that things will change for the better in the future,” he said.
With the CDL beginning on January 21 with its preseason Kick-Off Classic, only time will tell if Activision take action to help appease the CoD esports scene’s concerns.
