The Esports World Cup’s Call of Duty (CoD) Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) competition takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from August 15th to 18th 2024, and UK talent will feature.
The Call of Duty League (CDL) may have concluded, but this is one final tournament of the 2023/24 season, with one of the largest prize pools ever seen in Call of Duty esports: $1.8m.
CDL franchises will compete against teams from outside of the league for the first time on Modern Warfare 3, and there’s plenty of UK talent at the Esports World Cup to get excited about.
Which UK CoD players are at the 2024 Esports World Cup?
The Modern Warfare 3 season has seen several UK players and coaches assert their skills on the virtual battlefield and with the season-ending CDL championship already over, franchises are already making changes to prepare for the Black Ops 6 season expected to commence later in the year.
Out of the 11 CDL franchises, just three players are from the UK. Jamie ‘Insight’ Craven will represent the Toronto Ultra who took third place at the 2024 CDL championship, former London Royal Raven Byron ‘Nastie’ Plumridge takes to the stage for the Los Angeles Thieves, and Cameron ‘Cammy’ McKilligan for the Boston Breach.
The pairing of Insight and Cammy is no stranger to success, taking the runner-up spot at the 2021 CDL championship while Nastie is starting to blossom into a generational talent after finishing fourth at the 2024 CDL Playoffs.
Following strong showings in the 2024 CDL championship, Toronto Ultra and the LA Thieves, competing under the 100 Thieves banner at the Esports World Cup, there’s potential for the UK’s CDL representatives to reach the podium once again.
Elsewhere, French organisation Gentle Mates, is one of five amateur rosters looking to spring a surprise against the CDL powerhouses. Two UK talents compete for Gentle Mates in the form of Harry ‘Harry’ Payne and Ben ‘Bance’ Bance (pictured below).
Harry has excelled in Call of Duty’s Challengers division, scoring a number of victories in European competitions in 2024 in addition to achieving victory in the 2021 European Challengers finals.
Bance is no stranger to competing against CDL opposition, having represented Toronto and the Minnesota Rokkr between 2020 and 2022. Many will know Bance as a quarter of the Splyce roster that reached the 2016 Call of Duty championship finals, a milestone for European Call of Duty.
Related article: The History of UK Call of Duty esports
The lack of opportunities for Challengers teams to compete against the CDL rosters makes the Modern Warfare 3 Esports World Cup an exciting prospect. Gentle Mates have a chance at causing a major upset while those representing CDL franchises are positioned well with another chance to knock down OpTic Texas and the green wall.
And last but not least, the Carolina Royal Ravens (formerly the London Royal Ravens) have UK player Ben ‘Beans’ McMellon on their roster.
He recently moved to the Ravens after time with Boston Breach and Team WaR.
On joining, he said: “So excited for this opportunity. Time to get to work for the Esports World Cup.”
Esports News UK wishes good luck to all the UK talent out in Riyadh competing in the MW3 EWC 2024 tournament.
The 16 CoD teams and groups at the 2024 Esports World Cup
- Optic Gaming
- Cloud9
- Toronto Ultra
- 100 Thieves
- Atlanta Faze
- Team Heretics
- Seattle Surge
- Las Vegas Legion
- Carolina Royal Ravens (formerly the London Royal Ravens)
- G2 Esports
- Boston Breach
- Lore Gaming
- Stallions
- Gentle Mates
- Omit Brooklyn
- Team Falcons
The groups are as follows:
What happened in the EWC 2024 Warzone tournament?
The inaugural Esports World Cup features a wide variety of titles, and Call of Duty actually has two tournaments – the upcoming MW3 one detailed above, and a Warzone tournament, which has now concluded.
This $1m Warzone tournament was won by Team Falcons, with London-headquartered org Fnatic in second place, Twisted Minds in third and London’s Guild Esports in fourth.
Guild had UK players competing for them: WarsZ, KINGAJ and BubbleCT, along with Dutch player iVisionSR.
Other UK players in the tournament included Jukeyz, Lenun and Tommey on team Al Ula, Prxdigy and OEKIY on sixth-placed SvGe Esports and qlapr on Vision Esports. Boogs and YRLiam also competed with BSL.
There was also UK broadcast talent in the Warzone EWC tourney, including stage host Barney Banks and analyst Nfinity.
Related article: Navigating through Saudi Arabia’s continued rise in esports and why it’s okay to feel conflicted
