The New York Subliners player tested positive days after competing in the Kickoff Classic.
The Call of Duty League hosted its pre-season CDL Kickoff Classic event for Vanguard this weekend. The tournament which is seen as an exciting way to kick off the new season has left players with a poor experience. The ‘meaningless’ CDL event also had poor COVID testing protocols, and James "Clayster" Eubanks has now tested positive.
Clayster posted his positive COVID test results on Twitter slamming CDL for poor safety protocols including lack of regulations and proper testing.
Really happy I had to attend a meaningless kickoff single elim event without proper testing and regulations.
He said the CDL required just one negative test on Thursday. The tournament ran from Friday to Sunday.
In a subsequent tweet, he says they pushed for no fans at the venue and daily testing. The Call of Duty League did not require daily testing and the onsite safety rules were not enforced.
Players slam Call of Duty League
Other players also took to social media to vent their frustrations at CDL for not realizing adequate safety protocols.
Los Angeles Thieves’ Envoy questioned the need to risk holding the kickoff event at all. He also accused the CDL of not doing the minimum to ensure players’ safety.
In a follow-up tweet, Envoy says fans and event staff did not wear their masks, with many staff wearing masks around the chin.
"Let’s promote no masks front row all weekend too, barely 6 feet from our walkout places. look the event is lit!!! I’m watching staff have masks on their chins, talent taking pics with fans and seeing them backstage minutes after."
Peak Viewership of over 79,000
The CDL Kickoff Classic had a peak viewership of over 79,753 viewers during the match between Los Angeles Thieves and OpTic Texas. The quarterfinals match saw Los Angeles Thieves win the series with a 3-1 score.
The ATL FaZe vs SEA Surge and FLA Mutineers vs Toronto Ultra were the next two most popular matches with 63,157 and 60,218 peak viewers respectively.
LANs? Yes! But safety comes first
Its no secret that COVID is here to stay for some time. LAN events are returning in several titles, but these events need proper safety guidelines including regular testing. Despite some players approaching CDL for beter safety precautions, the lack of enforcement of these rules at the event is appalling. Having fans, staff and even players not wear masks at the public event is a cause of concern. Hopefully, for subsequent CoD LAN events, we will see better precautions and stricter enforcement of rules.
The CDL has four in-person events this season with the first in March.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Call of Duty news and updates.