Esports Legend Explains What’s Wrong With The Call of Duty League

Mike ‘hastr0’ Rufail has taken to social media to lambast the state of the Call of Duty esports scene. Rufail has been circulating in the competitive gaming space for almost 20 years, and in 2009, he founded Envy, shaping it into an esports beast. His origin sits firmly in the competitive Call of Duty space, so his recent statement is well-founded.

In his words, the Call of Duty esports ecosystem is ‘not looking very attractive’, which is a huge blocker to him re-entering the space with Envy and Empire.

Mike Rufail Bags on Call of Duty Esports

In a damning post on social media, Mike Rufail wrote:

Imagine a new gated neighborhood. A couple of mansions built in there already, but the rules allow for a few new families to build tiny homes next door and their yards are always trashy. That is not a place you want to invest in and that is currently the state of the CDL it seems.

I’d love to bring Envy/Empire back to COD, but it’s not looking very attractive at the moment. Someone needs to clean that hood up.

It wasn’t just a criticism piece, as Rufail took the time in the comments to offer a solution of sorts:

The best format possible for COD was the old MLG format in my opinion. 16 partner teams split into 4 groups with 4 open bracket teams qualifying into those groups at each tournament. Take the events on tour 6-8 times a year. That format worked great for a few years and gave opportunity to all.

Rufail has spent years being regarded as a die-hard esports aficionado and an expert voice in the space. He has influenced some of the biggest companies in the space, including Activision Blizzard. In 2020, under his leadership, Dallas Empire stormed to success as the inaugural Call of Duty League champion.

In 2021, Envy announced a merger with OpTic Gaming, but a year later, Envy was sunsetted entirely as OpTic swept up everything that remained. Then, to open 2025, it was announced that Rufail had reacquired Envy from OpTic and had started setting up rosters all over again.

He’s yet to break back into the Call of Duty space, though.

At Major II in the United Kingdom, I sat down with Daniel Tsay, GM of COD Esports at Activision, and he sang the praises of the League. He said it was more financially stable than ever before, and that viewership was strong. But if you ask the average fan, they’ll know that there are inherent issues with the CDL’s operating model.

Do you think something needs to change in the Call of Duty League? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server.

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