They’re going to be all about “big grins and getting those wins.”
Now introducing the Toronto Ultra, the newest Toronto-based professional esports team that will compete in the forthcoming Call of Duty League, which is set to launch in 2020.
Like Toronto’s other major professional esports team, the Toronto Defiant, the Ultra are also owned by former Canadian Olympic Committee CEO Chris Overholt’s OverActive Media (OAM).
Similar to the Overwatch League, which Defiant are part of, the Call of Duty League is being operated by Activision Blizzard, the publisher of the Call of Duty first-person shooter franchise.
Unlike the greyed out and oftentimes grim militaristic image associated with the Call of Duty, the Ultra are going in a much different direction, stressing fun and entertainment as their main core values.
“What I’ve loved about this process in building this brand is we’ve really considered the fans in our conversation,” said Overholt, OAM’s president and CEO, over the phone.
“One of the things we consistently noticed from the feedback is that people (played) for fun. It was an aspect of their lives — in some cases it was described as, ‘this is how I relax’ — and that really resonated with us, and we saw that as a really wonderful opportunity to build out a unique position for our brand in all of this. So we really brought focus and attention to that aspect of it. It’s a brand that will work really hard to not take itself too seriously and to engage its fans in a way that’s rooted in humour and light-heartedness.”
But for as hard as the Ultra seem to by shying away from seriousness, this is a team that features pretty serious talent with a roster comprised entirely of former pro players who had been competing in the Call of Duty World League, including Toronto native Mehran (Mayhem) Anjomshoa.
“I’m just glad that I was able to make it this far and I want to just keep going and see what I can really do,” the 21-year-old said. “I hopefully can win events with Toronto and show Canada that esports is a big thing and that esports players should be taken seriously as well.”
The following is a look at the Ultra’s full 10-man roster:
• Loony (Danny Loza – Venice, Calif.)
• Methodz (Anthony Zinni – Holmdel, N.J.)
• Brack (Carson Newberry – Johnson City, Tenn.)
• Lucky (Alex López – Madrid, Spain)
• MettalZ (Adrian Serrano – Barcelona, Spain)
• CleanX (Tobi Jønsson – Ulstrup, Denmark)
• Classic (Nick DiCostanzo – New York City, N.Y.)
• Cammy (Cammy McKilligan – Edinburgh, Scotland)
• Bance (Ben Bance – Plymouth, U.K.)
• Mayhem (Mehran Anjomshoa – Toronto)
A Canadian will also be apart of the Ultra’s management staff in Vancouver native Dominque “Wi5dom” Gelineau, who is the team’s general manager. Meanwhile, Mark “MarkyB” Bryceland will act as the Ultra’s strategic coach.
Officially unveiled at Rebel Nightclub in Toronto, the Ultra reveal was accompanied by a show with Canadian rappers Nav and Zach Zoya.
The Call of Duty League is poised to be a global, city-based esports league launching with 12 professional teams, representing 11 markets across North America and Europe.
Call of Duty is one of the most successful video game franchises in the world with more than 300 million copies sold across the 16 entrants in the series.
Activision Blizzard, publisher of the Call of Duty franchise and Call of Duty League organizer has found itself in hot water recently after a player from Hong Kong won a Hearthstone — another Activision Blizzard-published game — tournament, subsequently championed the pro-democracy protests in his hometown and then had the prize money he won revoked by Activision Blizzard.
There’s been no word on how, if at all, this incident might affect the future business of the Call of Duty League.
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