Tournament Organizer GameBattles Is Shutting Down

Activision Blizzard has decided to end support of GameBattles.

By Tanner Dedmon

GameBattles, the tournament organizer well known for hosting tournaments and fueling the competitive scene in Call of Duty games and more over the years, is shutting down. The company broke the news to its community this week by saying that GameBattles will come to an end in January which will at least give people a few more months to take part in tournaments for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and other games like Overwatch 2. Those fond of the memories behind GameBattles and its purpose are already urging those in charge to reconsider or are offering somewhat serious buyouts in an attempt to save the tournament organizer.

The GameBattles news was shared on social media this week with the company's site updated to reflect the announcement, too. A brief FAQ on the page addresses some of the topics like the broad reasoning behind the shutdown as well as what'll happen to those who still have GameBattles Credits that need to be used before January.

GameBattles Shutting Down

The posts on social media said "we have decided to shut down the GameBattles platform," but it wasn't explicitly said who "we" was. GameBattles part of Major League Gaming which was acquired by Activision Blizzard years ago, so it could be assumed that it was Activision Blizzard that decided to pull the plug. The FAQ page on the GameBattles site confirms as much by saying that the company has decided to discontinue support of the platform on January 31, 2024.

"Activision Blizzard is planning to sunset and no longer host the GameBattles platform," the FAQ said. "The company is committed to providing account holders the opportunity to transact any balance through pay-to-enter competitions and micro-transactions before January 15th, 2024. Thank you to the GameBattles community for your loyalty."

But what about those who've been taking part in GameBatlles tournaments and have credits still in their account? The FAQ addressed that topic as well: 

"If you have an outstanding balance of GameBattles Credits, we encourage you to use it prior to the shut down January 15th, 2024," the support page said. "If you have unclaimed prizes, players are encouraged to utilize the Prize Claim System prior to the shut down January 31st, 2024."

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Given that this is an Activision Blizzard property, the news of this closure unfortunately continues a recent trend regarding the company's outlook towards esports and competitive gaming. Just recently, it was confirmed that Blizzard would be "transitioning" away from the troubled Overwatch League, a competitive scene for Overwatch before and Overwatch 2 now which players and fans have been worried about for awhile now.

For now, users can still take part in GameBattles tournaments since it's business as usual until things shut down in January. There are 24 different Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 competitions going on right now, for example, with that game naturally expected to the most active one between now and when GameBattles comes to an end.

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