Chicago Huntsmen increase CDL Challengers prize pool after fan criticism

Just a day removed from receiving criticism for their ‘minimum’ prize pool, Chicago Huntsmen announced that they are more than doubling the amount of cash on the line for the Challengers event at their upcoming Call of Duty League home series.

The Chicago Call of Duty franchise has felt a little bit of heat this past week, but it’s not because of their shocking semifinals loss to the Mutineers at CDL Atlanta or their new partnership with Zippo.

The Huntsmen drew attention from some of its own fans on February 25, when they announced a $400 Challengers Pass, which amateur teams will require at the Chicago Challengers Open.

Initially, it was advertised to include a $10,000 rize pool, a meet & greet with the Huntsmen roster, on-stage recognition from co-CEO Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez, and two hours of gameplay analysis from the team’s coaching staff.

A day later, the franchise acknowledged the feedback they had received from their original announcement and revealed a new prize pool of $25,000, more than twice as much as what was originally listed.

 

• Read more: Call of Duty Power Rankings after CDL Atlanta

A number of fans and players complained that $10,000, the minimum prize pool figure by CDL Challengers standards, wasn’t enough. Several noticed that it was the lowest prize pool of any Challengers event announced so far.

Other users online argued that the level of competition is high enough that additional prizes like a meet-and-greet and coach analysis aren’t that enticing, and that they’d rather earn more prize money than meet the pros.

• Read More: CDL Atlanta Challengers final placements: FaZe Academy win on home turf

Mike ‘Hastr0’ Rufail turned up the heat on the Huntsmen a little more, posting on his Twitter account less than two hours later that the Challengers event at the Dallas Empire’s home series would feature a $25,000 prize pool. He made a point to mention the extra $15,000 the organization was adding in to support the scene.

The two teams have not been shy in dissing out banter towards each other, and Empire star Clayster couldn’t help himself in his team owner’s replies. H3CZ admitted he had to restrain the urge to fire back.

But a day later, Huntsmen did counter the Empire again, with the announcement that they had their prize pool up to the $25,000 mark. They acknowledged their feedback from fans, saying “We heard you.”

• Read more: When is CDL Los Angeles? Schedule, teams, more

Team passes for the Chicago Challengers Open, as well as the Los Angeles Open, are both still available in the MLG store. The LA event, hosted by OpTic Gaming and Guerrillas takes place much sooner, March 7-8, while Chicago’s takes place at the beginning of April.