The director of brand development at Treyarch has huge aspirations for Call of Duty, so much so that he believes Call of Duty could one day become an Olympic sport.
As eSports continues to gain more and more exposure across the world, some gamers' dreams of having it displayed on the biggest sporting stage of them all, might just unfold in front of their very eyes. Well, maybe.
Speaking to The Daily Star the aforementioned director, Jay Puryear said: "There's a lot of chat right now about how we can get [Call of Duty] into the Olympics."
Many of you might be thinking right now… 'How would it work? How could this become a spectacle that would attract interest?'
"Will Call of Duty start off at the Olympics? I’m not sure. More immediately I could certainly see an all-star team from the States going up against an all-start team from Europe."
Whether you agree with the dude or not, there does seems to be an increasing interest in eSports, and with more and more coverage, that will presumably grow.
ESPN – for example – picked up eSports in January of this year via a new vertical, which left many gamers wondering whether or not it would be the first step in company's taking the sport seriously.
Also, considering the huge success of gaming streaming platforms such as Twitch, there is now a community invested in the work of other gamers, playing games like Call of Duty – a fan base for the sport.
Puryear seems confident that with the right next steps, there could be Olympic medals up for grabs. He continued: "I think the Call of Duty World League is in a really strong position right now."
"It's up to the league to really promote these players as far as their personalities are concerned, as well as the organisations if we're to push it on. It's like the MLS pushing David Beckham, or Steven Gerrard.
"The difference though with eSports is that a lot of the fans feel they know these guys and as we move these events across the globe, the more people will want to come and see them play. So is the Olympics dream realistic? I think at some point [in the future] yes."
So, do you agree? Do you think that Call of Duty players could be quickscoping their way to Olympic glory in years to come? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
