$3 Million Up for Grabs in New Call of Duty Tournament

Activision on Thursday announced the next evolution of competitive Call of Duty. The Call of Duty World League is described as a "new era for esports." Specifically, it's a global league run by Activision that the company says will appeal to hardcore players and casual fans alike--and big money awaits the winners.

There will be two divisions in the Call of Duty World League--Pro and Challenge. Participants in each will compete for a spot at this year's Call of Duty Championship. As you'd expect, the game they'll be playing is Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops III, which launches on November 6.

Teams from around the world will compete in the Pro division series, which begins its tournament rounds in January 2016. The Challenge division, meanwhile, aims to offer a path for "amateur and other aspiring" players. The winning squads from the Challenge division will get to attend the Call of Duty Championship, too, which will be held this year in fall 2016.

"While our global fan base of players range from casual to professional, they all share a desire to compete- some at the highest levels," Treyarch's Mark Lamia said in a statement. "With Call of Duty: Black Ops III, we are introducing a series of new features, like Arena mode that not only accommodate that diversity of play styles, but also let players see how they stack up against one another."

The $3 million prize pool is spread across series payouts, LAN events, and the Call of Duty Championship itself. Last year's Call of Duty Championship saw players competing for a share of a $1 million prize purse. More details about how to compete and watch the upcoming tournaments will be announced later.

In other news about Black Ops III, Sony and Activision have revealed a new Black Ops III-themed PlayStation 4 bundle that comes with a 1 TB console.