CDL Salary Change Means It’s Not ‘Worth It’ Unless You’re ‘Lucky’

Recently, it was revealed that the Call of Duty League’s minimum player salary requirement would be scrapped in favour of organisations simply aligning with their state’s minimum wage laws. As many have pointed out, this means that some players might be earning a woefully low amount to account for training, competing, and upholding a schedule to build and maintain a profile.

In response to the change, several key figures in the Call of Duty space surfaced on social media to make their opinions heard.

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‘The Sacrifices… Haven’t Been Worth It’

On Twitter, the CEO of OMiT pointed out that some players will earn as little as $7 an hour to play Call of Duty full-time. That’s not simply playing the game but also training with a team, following a schedule laid out by the development and coaching staff, competing all over North America, and constantly grinding to be best at their game.

For some, an entire season will pass by without a single win, which means the base salary of as little as $7 an hour will be the best it gets.

In a comment responding to that post, DREAL, former head coach at the New York Subliners (now Cloud9), said:

This isn’t a career that a lot of millennials will think it will be, the sacrifices, time and social investment haven’t been worth it, except for a select lucky / talented few. Collegiate and having a plan B, in case it doesn’t work out long term.

In another post on his profile, DREAL pointed out the struggles and uncertainties that the wider industry is going through at present. He pointed out that many young people are sacrificing too much to pursue an esports career in a world that’s becoming fast oversaturated. In his words, ‘most people sacrifice a lot for it, including developing soft skills and education.’

Since parting ways with the New York Subliners (Cloud9), DREAL has focused on his education, finishing up an MSc in Biomedical Science. He has taken to educating youngsters through talks and has been actively posting motivational and development-focused articles through his blog.

While the biggest personalities in the Call of Duty space have content creation and streaming as a secondary source of income, many of the league’s players don’t have a big enough following to earn from that angle. If they can scrounge up sponsorships, they’re slightly better off, but the matter of the fact is that this adjustment is going to have a huge impact on many players.

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