Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Military Veterans Charity Tournament Taking Place Soon With US, UK Branches

Activision's Call of Duty-branded military veterans charity, the Call of Duty Endowment, has announced the details for this year's C.O.D.E. Bowl event, which will be expanded from last year.

Held on December 11 and sponsored by USAA, the C.O.D.E. Bowl sees a big change this year in that all five branches of the US military will participate through their own eSports squads, while international military organizations will take part as well.

Three new teams from the US Marine Corps, US Air Force, and US Space Force will compete this year, while the UK's British Army, Royal Air Force, and Royal Navy will also take part.

"We are proud to have the United States and the United Kingdom militaries come together to participate in the C.O.D.E. Bowl," Call of Duty Endowment executive director Dan Goldenberg said in a statement.

Here's how the actual C.O.D.E. Bowl will play out. The tournament begins at 10 AM PT on December 11, with eight teams in total competing in a Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War tournament. The teams consists of a popular Call of Duty streamer, a "top influencer," and the soldiers from the US and UK. You can watch the tournament on YouTube and Twitch.

The list of participating military branches include the US Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force, while the UK participants include the British Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force. The streamers who will play on their teams include Courage, LEGIQN, Huskerrs, Swagg, Espresso, Vikkstar, Tommey, C9Emz, Spratt, and others to be announced later.

Scuf Controllers is one of the sponsors of this year's C.O.D.E. Bowl, and the company is donating all net proceeds from the event to the Call of Duty Endowment. Additionally, Ram Trucks is giving away a 2021 Ram 1500 Built To Serve special edition truck to a military veteran through the event.

The newly formed Air Force Gaming group released its own statement on the news today, confirming that its Air Force and Space Force branches are excited to participate in the event.

Broadcasts of the AFG's games will be conducted out of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The players themselves will participate remotely. To get onto the AFG team, soldiers needed to advance through an open tournament featuring more than 200 teams.

The AFG was formed in part to help improve the mental health of soldiers through creating virtual communities through games. More than 10,000 servicemen and women have taken part in the initiate, AFG said.

"Air Force Gaming exists to bolster resiliency and foster a community of support, mental wellbeing, and inclusion for all interested Air Force and Space Force service members," AFG founder Captain Oliver Parsons said. "These friendly competitions are great for morale across all branches and are a great showcase for the work Air Force Gaming is doing to establish a vibrant and positive culture across the entire Department of the Air Force. I'm looking forward to watching the first ever Air Force and Space Force esports teams dominate the competition!"

On top of this, AFG has confirmed it will host other tournaments of its own throughout December for those in the service who are deployed. "AFG hopes to provide a bright alternative to missing the holidays with family by holding friendly competitions and rallying the Air Force and Space Force communities around those currently serving overseas," the group said.

Since its founding in 2009, the Call of Duty Endowment has helped place more than 77,000 military veterans in jobs, and the organization is aiming for this figure to reach 100,000 by 2024. According to Activision, the average cost to place a veteran in a job through the Call of Duty Endowment was $500 in 2019, which compares to thousands through the US government.

The first DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was a Call of Duty Endowment cosmetic bundle, the proceeds of which helped support military veterans. Activision's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 also has DLC that supports the charity.