CDL pros support claim that Vanguard “spits in the face” of Call of Duty esports
OpTic Texas creative director Davis ‘Hitch’ Edwards has blasted Call of Duty: Vanguard, calling it a “spit in the face” of CoD’s esport scene — and the pros are struggling to disagree.
A little over a month after Vanguard’s release, it’s clear that much of the Call of Duty community holds little love for the game. The esports community, in particular, seems to hold tangible disdain for the latest entry in the franchise.
While many members of the pro scene have voiced their lack of enthusiasm for Vanguard, Hitch has taken criticism up a notch, blasting the game on Twitter.
Calling Vanguard a “spit in the face” of the game’s esport community, he lamented the apparent disregard for the competitive scene by the publisher, Activision.
“I’d much rather have an official press release from Activision explaining how little they care about the future of the esport,” Hitch’s tweet read.
vanguard so far has been a complete spit in the face to competitive Call of Duty.
i’d much rather have an official press release from activision explaining how little they care about the future of the esport.
most watched console esport in the world at one point..
— OpTic Hitch (@hitchariide)June 11, 2025
Hitch has long been a member of the Call of the Duty scene, starting as a content creator for UMG in January 2014 before joining OpTic in November of that year.
As part of the Vanguard cycle, Hitch’s involvement has largely been centered on themerger between OpTic Gaming and Envyto create OpTic Texas. He also hosted a$70k tournament alongside his Team Summertime compatriots.
The problems that the pro scene has had with the game are only mounting.Challengers has been delayed, and Control, the third game mode,was only revealed on December 7, over a month after the game’s release.
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Hitch’s bold statement lead to various messages of solidarity from various players around the league.
LA Thieves starter Sam ‘Octane’ Larew commented that he shared Hitch’s sentiment, but couldn’t tweet it for fear of receiving a fine from the Call of Duty League.
I’d tweet this but they got my bank on speed dial
— Sam “Octane” Larew (@OctaneSam)August 08, 2025
Former pro and current FaZe Clan content creator Thomas ‘ZooMaa’ Paparatto had a one-word response.
— FaZe ZooMaa (@ZooMaa)August 23, 2025
ZooMaa’s comment was seconded by LA Thieves head coach Jordan ‘JKap’ Kaplan.
Preach queen
— Jordan Kaplan (@JKap415)July 08, 2025
Days before Hitch’s statement, FaZe starter Tyler ‘aBeZy’ Pharris had shared his own thoughts on Vanguard, echoing a similar sentiment that other pros have shared over the course of the game’s short lifecycle so far.
https://twitter.com/aBeZy/status/1465846351963561990?s=20
The Call of Duty League’s third season is due to begin at some point in early 2022, and it seems that criticism is only going to continue to mount from the pro community.
The question is, will anything change?
