Activision Denies 100 Thieves' Request To Use 'Call Of Duty: Warzone' In Charity Tournament

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) reportedly denied a request by 100 Thieves to use "Call of Duty: Warzone" in a tournament series raising money for racial equality. The four-week tournament would have raised $100,000 for the cause.

The esports organization announced the news on Twitter: "Unfortunately, Activision has denied our request to use Warzone for this charity tournament so we'll need to postpone Gamers For Equality. We hope to still host this tournament and are working to find alternative solutions."

CashApp and JBL Audio were partnering up with 100 Thieves for the event, but the news of the tournament was not approved by Activision beforehand. The company stated 100 Thieves could not run a tournament with sponsors and monetization options.

Matt "Nadeshot" Haag, CEO of 100 Thieves, clarified the issue in a video on Twitter: "First and foremost, I just want to clear this up and make it undoubtedly clear. We weren't making money from this tournament. We might have gotten more exposure from other streamers that are bigger than me playing in the tournament, but we weren't making money. Solely $100,000 was going to go to charity."

According to Nadeshot, Activision wanted the organization to remove the sponsors, but 100 Thieves couldn't. Cash App was the company putting up the money for the charity.

"I promise you guys we'll figure out another game to do this with another publisher," said Nadeshot. "I respect Activision's position. I apologize for any inconvenience or drama this has caused."