The Toronto Ultra is turning up the heat once again. The Call of Duty League franchise has officially announced the return of its Hot Drop Warzone tournament, featuring a $25,000 prize pool and support from Monster Gaming.
The second annual Toronto Ultra Hot Drop kicks off on October 7th, 2025, marking the first major Call of Duty: Warzone competition since the World Series of Warzone Global Final earlier this year.
Is it hot in here or is it just us? 🔥
We’re partnering with @TorontoUltra for the second year in a row to bring you the Toronto Ultra Hot Drop, kicking off tomorrow at 5PM EST/2PM PST!
Be sure to tune in to catch all the action! pic.twitter.com/8CrDXgmX0D
— Monster Gaming (@MonsterGaming) October 6, 2025
Big Names, Big Prizes
Teams will compete in trios on Verdansk for their share of the $25,000 (~NZ$42,000) prize pool, with the champions pocketing $10,000 (~NZ$17,000). Scoring will follow a familiar format, with one point per elimination and a multiplier based on placement:
- 1st: 2x
- 2nd–5th: 1.8x
- 6th–10th: 1.4x
- 11th–20th: 1.4x
- 21st–30th: 1.2x
- 31st and below: 1x
Like last year, the Hot Drop will use the match point system. That means once a team reaches the target score, they’ll need to win the next match to seal the championship.
This year, Shifty returns to defend his title with a new trio: Riley “zSmit” Smith and Logan “Skullface” Greifelt. With Biffle retiring from competition, all eyes will be on this fresh lineup to see if lightning can strike twice.
The State of Warzone Esports
While Activision has yet to confirm whether the World Series of Warzone circuit will return in 2026, third-party organisers like Toronto Ultra are keeping the competitive scene alive. Recent months have seen new organisations like Gen.G entering the Warzone space, showing there’s still plenty of momentum for community-driven events.
This grassroots energy mirrors the renewed excitement seen in other FPS scenes, such as Counter-Strike, where streamer Erik “fl0m” Flom recently announced his own community-driven LAN, the $30,000 Mythical LAN in Las Vegas.
With Monster Gaming’s backing and a prize pool that guarantees high-stakes action, the Toronto Ultra Hot Drop looks set to be one of Warzone’s biggest post-season showdowns yet. Fans can tune in when the competition goes live on October 7th at 5PM EST (2PM PST) to catch all the chaos unfold.