Call of Duty is in itself for adults, but at a tournament it apparently goes too cruel even for them. The organizer intervenes, to the annoyance of the fans.

New York, USA – Shooter Call of Duty is also a big name in e-sports. At this year’s championship, there’s controversy over cruelty and skulls, but it’s not about the game itself. The trophy that the best team gets to take home is too cruel for organizer Activision.

The best “Call of Duty” pros are officially not allowed to get their trophy: “too cruel”.

About this tournament – Call of Duty has its own professional league: the CDL. There, the best players compete against each other, as known from e-sports titles such as LoL or, for example, the Champions League from real soccer. The CDL Major 4 is currently taking place from July 14 to 17, 2022.

High prize money and fame await the world champions forged in the CDL. Spectators will spend up to over $300 for a seat at the live event in New York. But what viewers won’t see is the trophy the winning team will receive – that’s probably too cruel for organizer Activision.

This is the “cruel reward.” The host of the CDL Majos traditionally chooses their own trophy – since Activision doesn’t provide one. So the current host, the “New York Subliners”, choose a true icon of their hometown: the Statue of Liberty. But to make sure the trophy doesn’t look like a tourist souvenir, there is a small change: The head of Lady Liberty is split and reveals a skull – see for yourself here:

First-person shooter banned from 18 years reward for e-sports: too brutal for America?

That’s why the trophy was banned: The somewhat different Statue of Liberty was unveiled just a day before the tournament started, on July 13. Fans celebrated the cool design, after all, prestige ranks in CoD always have such skulls as emblems. But only a short time later, the Matt Lucero, Creative Director of the hosts, came forward and had to announce that Activision unceremoniously blocked the trophy.

Too brutal or anti-USA? It is interesting that Call of Duty has an 18+ release in Germany, so it is for adults. The visitors of the CDL tournament must also be at least 17+. While the pros are playing the first person shooter, you see gun violence, shots to the head and dead soldiers every few seconds.

It might be thought that the trophy was rejected more because it degrades the United States landmark. So the cited cruelty would not be the skull per se, but in combination with the Statue of Liberty, which stands for the proverbial “American way of life” – and Activision probably doesn’t want to bury that.

I guess there is one win after all: Insider sources report that the controversial trophy will be at the tournament after all. The presentation to the winners of the CDL may only not be shown in front of running cameras, reports the US site Dexerto. The outraged publisher Activision has not yet commented on the matter (as of July 15, 2022, 9:00 a.m.).