$3 Million On The Line In Call Of Duty World League

(RTTNews) - Video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI) has formed a new e-sports league for its iconic game "Call of Duty", showing the video game publisher's intention to take e-sports seriously.

The new e-sports league, which will kick off in January 2016, has tripled its prize pool to $3 million, and it will be expanded from an annual event to year-round international leagues. The tournament, which originally debuted three years ago, will be moved from spring to fall in 2016, to support the all-new seasonal structure.

The new World league will be comprised of two divisions - the Pro Division for professional players, and the Challenge Division for amateurs aspiring to be pro ranks.

The professional league will feature players from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, who will battle throughout the year in regional competition during The Pro Division regular season to earn their ticket to the Call of Duty Championship. They will compete for the largest seasonal cash prizes in "Call of Duty" to date.

The winning teams in the the Challenge Division will also earn a spot in the Call of Duty Championship by competing in a series of official LAN events.

The next big game in Call of Duty Series is Black Ops III, which is set to be released on November 6. Activision Blizzard noted that the arrival of "Call of Duty: Black Ops III" will mark the deepest e-sports in-game integration in franchise history.

Several video game publishers and developers have taken e-sports seriously. The Dota 2 e-sports championship tournament hosted by Valve Corp, the game's developer, took place in early August this year and its prize pool totaled $18 million.

Microsoft also recently announced a new world championship series for Halo, with a $1 million prize pool. The Halo World Championship will launch later this winter.