Call of Duty World League, otherwise known as CWL, is expanding into Japan with organisation from Sony.

The Call of Duty World League is a series of tournaments that was launched in January 2016, culminating in the flagship Call of Duty World League Championship event. Japanese team Rush Gaming earned funding to attend the recent CWL Las Vegas Open after winning a National Qualifier.

The entry period for the first Call of Duty World League Japan competition – which aims to find a national team for the next Global Open – opens on December 17th, leading to an online qualifier that takes place over January 12-13th. Eight teams will advance from this phase to make the LAN finals which span over January 26-27th. The winning team will require an esports team license from the Japan Esports Union to compete in the Global Open.

The CWL hosts a number of Global Open events over the course of each season, with the host cities in the 2019 circuit including Las Vegas, Anaheim, Fort Worth, and an unspecified location in the United Kingdom. The winning team from the CWL Japan National Cup Decision Battle will earn a spot in the next Global Open tournament.

There will be competitions ahead of each of the aforementioned Global Open events, giving Japanase teams numerous opportunities to represent the country on the world stage. There will also be a “Japan’s Strongest” competition poised for Summer 2019, determining which Japanese team is the most dominant.

Esports Insider says: With Call of Duty esports always being dominated by North American and European squads, it’s great to see initiatives that include teams from other regions.