Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
Image via Activision

Treyarch lead game designer discusses Gentlemen’s Agreements and CDL rules in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Treyarch is working with pros to create a CDL ruleset.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will take center stage in the 2021 Call of Duty League season, so it’s important for the game to find a solid competitive ruleset. While Activision and Treyarch want to employ a competitive set that’s as close to the “out of the box” feeling that public match players will get, there’s often a lot more balancing that needs to be done—and sometimes, players take it upon themselves with Gentlemen’s Agreements (GAs).

Recommended Videos

In Call of Duty, GAs are basically a written set of rules that the pros in the CDL agree to abide by. It restricts certain weapons, equipment, attachments, and more. Currently, pros have chosen quite a lot to be off-limits.

Tony Flame, the new CoD’s lead designer at Treyarch, acknowledged the large amount of GAs in this year’s game in a lengthy Reddit post this afternoon, confirming that he’s been in touch with pros.

“We’ve been working with the Pro Players closer than ever this year, and we’re all still finalizing rulesets for the official CDL season kicking off next year,” Flame said. “Because of the massive amount of content being offered in Create a Class and Gunsmith in particular, this takes some time and playtesting to get the right competitive gameplay in place.”

Related: Here are the current Gentlemen’s Agreements for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

There have been multiple different GA rulesets throughout the game’s first month-plus and Flame expects there to be more. And he thinks it’s a part of the process of making the competitive game the best it can be.

“What the pro players are doing by shifting the GA rules, is experimenting and helping determine what the ruleset should and will be for the CDL Season,” Flame said. “We are looking at some new ways to solidify the officially sanctioned content for the CDL which we will talk more about next year, and working closely with the players and their insight on what those rules will look like.”

Flame said that a key part of what makes GAs and forming a ruleset problematic sometimes is that pros are streaming scrims and the community is reacting in real-time without full context of what the developers and pros are discussing behind the scenes.

“We are working together to find the best set of rules, including the right competitive content for the right modes, and I can’t tell you how difficult that is to do with the hundreds of thousands of you watching and speculating all along,” he said.

The 2021 CDL season will begin sometime next year. No start date has been announced yet.


Dot Esports is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Scott Duwe
Scott Duwe
Senior Staff Writer & Call of Duty lead. Professional writer for over 10 years. Lover of all things Marvel, Destiny 2, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, and more. Previous bylines include PC Gamer, Red Bull Esports, Fanbyte, and Esports Nation. DogDad to corgis Yogi and Mickey, sports fan (NY Yankees, NY Jets, NY Rangers, NY Knicks), Paramore fanatic, cardio enthusiast.