Call of Duty team London Royal Ravens relocates to United States

6 September 2023

While most of the news we share is positive in terms of esports in the UK, every now and then there are less positive developments to share as well. This is one of those times, because Call of Duty esports team London Royal Ravens has decided to relocate to the United States. The formely London-based outfit is setting up a new camp in Charlotte, in the state of North Carolina, and rebranding as the Carolina Royal Ravens. The move means that the 2024 Call of Duty League (CDL), one of the title’s major international leagues, will not feature any participating teams from the UK or the rest of Europe.

Complete rebranding

As can be expected as the result of such a move, the Royal Ravens have undergone a complete rebranding. After announcing the move from London to Charlotte, their entire online branding was adapted as well, including a different logo. The logo, which was changed from red to blue, now sports a crown in the middle of the raven and all of the organisation’s profile pictures on different social media now show a crown.

“COD is coming to the Carolinas”, the Royal Ravens wrote on their own X account on September 5th, 2023, “We're thrilled to announce we're taking our royal wings to the Queen City, Charlotte, NC. The next chapter of the Royal Ravens will be fuelled by the energy, culture, and resilience of the Carolinas. We want to thank all of our London fans. From hosting the very first CDL Major for you in 2020 to this very moment, your passion for our team and the games we've played are unrivalled. We will always be grateful for the four years we spent flying the flag for the UK and the support you gave us. From the United Kingdom to the Queen City, we are all Royal Ravens”.

Earlier staff departures

Some industry insiders had been expecting big news from Royal Ravens for a while, though few will have expected something as drastic as a change of location to the United States. A few months ago, the organisation let go several key staff members, including managing director Michael “ODEE” O’Dell, and house streamers Angelika and Jukeyz. At the time, the latter already indicated that something wasn’t right at Royal Ravens and that his dismissal came as a complete surprise.

“It was so weird [when they let us go]”, said Jukeyz, “They kind of kept everything to themselves instead of letting everyone know in advance, so it was quite a shock when it happened – the day before the World Series. Just being part of them was a dream, so I was definitely gutted, I was hurt, I’d been with them for a while. But when I saw everyone else getting released as well, I thought, well, they must be going through something – I’ve just got to lift my head up and crack on because it was out of my control”.