OpTic Gaming’s H3CZ and Scump file lawsuit against Activision
destructoid.comTwo prominent members of OpTic Gaming have filed a lawsuit against Activision. Per Bloomberg Law, the lawsuit alleges Activision and the Call of DutyLeague created a monopoly on competitive CoD.
Activision both owns Call of Duty and runs the Call of Duty League, a professional league where OpTic Gaming competes. The pending lawsuit was filed by H3CZ, the founder and longtime CEO of OpTic Gaming, as well as Scump, a now-retired professional CoD player and current member of OpTic’s content creation team.
Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez and Seth “Scump” Abner filed a lawsuit against Activision, alleging the company created a tournament monopoly in Call of Duty. Previously, tournaments were run by Major League Gaming, Gamestop, Checkmate Gaming, and other companies to allow players to compete at nearly any level. Since the inception of the CDL, the OpTic members are alleging Activision has created the only place high-level competitive Call of Duty players can compete.
According to the lawsuit:
“Activision’s acquisition of Major League Gaming in late 2016 already had resulted in an extreme concentration of the professional Call of Duty market. Activision then cemented a complete monopoly over the professional Call of Duty market by refusing to grant licenses to organizers and operators of other commercial Call of Duty competitions.”
But Rodriguez accuses Activision of more than just a monopoly. The founder and longtime CEO also says Activision forced him to sell the majority of his company. In addition to a $27.5 million entry fee to get into the CDL, the suit says Activision demanded an “unconditional 50% share of the revenue the team generated from ticket sales, sponsorships, and other revenue streams.” Those who did not give in to these demands were allegedly cut out of the professional CoD market.
After reacquiring OpTic Gaming in 2020, Rodriguez sought to enter the Activision CoD League as the sole owner of a team. The lawsuit alleges that Activision refused to approve
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