well I also follow esports so idk I'm not sure how to feel about this, I mainly don't care
1. the xgames are a joke anyways, they're trying to take a form of self-expression and turn it into a contest, legit skateboarders, bikers, and everyone else recognizes that xgames is all about money and that's all it ever has been. Cod actually makes more sense because there's a quantifiable winner and loser without any subjective judgment from a panel of judges
2. esports are legit idc what any of you say. however, cod is kinda a pariah among the esports community because of its relatively boring gameplay and shitty competitive environment. However, it appeals to the masses because cod is like the best selling game of all time or some shit. so I could really care less about cod, it's full of the kind of scrubs who watch the xgames in the first place: little kids.
3. lol why do you care about recognition do what you want and do what makes you happy. the two scenes that I'm involved with in the action sports and esports communities are the smashbros scene and scooters, niether of which have really had much wide-spread mainstream support. Smash has been exiled from the serious esports and fighting game communities for awhile for being a "party game" and "not legitimate." Recently, melee was the game that had the second-highest turnout for any fighting game tourney ever at Evo 2013, and it's beginning to be accepted by the mainline fgc, especially after the smash documentary. It doesn't matter, smash has thrived on grassroots tournies and created its own scene and scooters have done the same and it's worked out well so far.