Another big step towards a players association in the Call of Duty League appears to have been taken following OpTic Chicago’s Seth ‘Scump’ Abner’s claims that the CDL fined him for doing a sponsored stream during the offseason.
Throughout the Call of Duty League’s inaugural season, it became apparent that fines were being issued to players for certain conduct, which appeared to include being critical of the game or the league. One of the most high-profile instances of this was when Seattle Surge’s Sam ‘Octane’ Larew was fined in July for calling out the league because his team was forced to play a man down against London Royal Ravens due to connection issues.
However, the issue has raised its head again after Scump tweeted during Black Ops Cold War’s launch weekend that he has a fine incoming after expressing his frustration at the fact the game was shipped without a ranked mode. This is despite the former world champion also tweeting around the same time that he loves Black Ops Cold War.
As discourse began to grow around his fine, Scump also reveals that he previously got fined for doing a sponsored stream playing mobile RPG Raid Shadow Legends during the offseason.
I haven’t spoken of this publicly really, but I was fined for playing Raid Shadow Legends during a sponsored stream. It was during the off season as well which makes it worse. My channels are MY channels. I should be able to do what I please, but apparently I cant.
— OpTic Scump (@scump) November 15, 2020
Scump then claims that prior to the inaugural season of the Call of Duty League, players were told to sign a contract with the league and were not given the opportunity to consult lawyers before doing so. He alleges the league informed players that if they didn’t sign, they would not be allowed to compete at the CDL Launch Weekend in Minnesota.
The CDL also made us sign a player “contract” in front of them without allowing us to run it by our lawyers at the player summit. It was a “sign it now or you can’t play at Minnesota” type exchange. I’m probably gonna get fined for this too just letting y’all know 👌
— OpTic Scump (@scump) November 15, 2020
This kind of contract appears to have also cropped up in Activision Blizzard’s other franchised esports competition, the Overwatch League. Former Dallas Fuel player Brandon ‘Seagull’ Larndon says he was told to sign a similar contract which included clauses “signing away my rights to my streaming platform and the right to criticize the game ‘Overwatch’”.
COD players aren’t alone on this one.
OWL players were given a set of streaming rules/policies at the player’s summit to sign.
Included were clauses signing away my rights to my streaming platform and the right to criticize the game “Overwatch”
My team did not sign. We walked. https://t.co/sJnTMvq0AG
— Brandon Larned (@A_Seagull) November 15, 2020
Scump’s public outing of the CDL’s restrictive terms have now reignited calls for a players association. One of the biggest advocates for unionisation, Dallas Empire’s Ian ‘Crimsix’ Porter, took a cryptic snipe at Scump following his tweets that seemed to suggest the OpTic Chicago star was the only player not to agree to a players association in the past.
In response to Crimsix, Scump says he is now “in” after discussing the issues with fellow Call of Duty pro James ‘Clayster’ Eubanks.
I literally just told Clay im in
— OpTic Scump (@scump) November 15, 2020
The reason I originally declined was because I was barely told anything about it. We can be friends on this one….
— OpTic Scump (@scump) November 15, 2020
With a movement towards a players association appearing to mobilise yet again, and industry veterans like Crimsix, Clayster, and Scump all in agreement that things need to change, there could be some interesting discussions between the players and Activision Blizzard around the corner – if the pros can finally iron out the creases and unionise.
Activision Blizzard has been contacted for comment on Scump’s claims.
