After CDL Challengers players received a delay to the start of their season, Monday’s Call of Duty: Vanguard Season 1 update was supposed to make the game playable at a competitive level again. But after diving back into the game, one Challenger player is once again asking for more time while developers fix key issues that impact the competitive landscape.
WestR’s Thomas “GRVTY” Malin first asked for a delay on Nov. 26, until developers added in a third game mode. While the update finally added Control just days before the already delayed Challenger season starts on Dec. 11, GRVTY said the game is still not ready for competitive play. Now, he’s requesting that Call of Duty League competitive operations manager Matthew Zaborowski push the first two Challenger cups back to January.
“With the current state of Control at its release and all the glitches it came with, the Challengers community would appreciate it if the first two cups were pushed back further (January),” GRVTY wrote on Twitter. “@DotZeb, the game is not ready for competition. We want to wait to ensure the most [competitive] integrity.”
With the current state of control at its release and all the glitches it came with the challengers community would appreciate it if the first 2 cups were pushed back further (January). @DotZeb the game is not ready for competition.We want to wait to ensure the most comp integrity https://t.co/dYiEHR4ytS
— GRVTY (@tomGRVTY) December 7, 2021
A chaotic start to the Challengers season
At the time of publication, Zaborowski or the CDL have not yet responded to GRVTY’s request, and the first two Challenger Cups are expected to continue as planned on Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, respectively.
This is just the latest issue in the rocky start to the Challengers season this year. After the players in the amateur division of the CDL asked for a delay to their season, Challengers’ last remaining organization, the Kansas City Pioneers, released their roster due to the deteriorating landscape of the scene. Then, the CDL canceled the Scouting Series due to the rescheduling of the Challenger Cups. With a second delay potentially on the horizon, the Challengers landscape may remain in flux for some time.
