Players find hidden TIGER in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Hacienda level – and it’s causing chaos in top-level play

ESPORTS is big business, with players competing for millions of pounds and building huge careers off the back of competitive multiplayer gaming.

Unlike traditional sports, players have to deal with everything from constant changes rules and updates to playing areas--and now, they can add tigers to that list.

This year's Call of Duty World League, which has £4.7 million ($6 million) in prize money up for grabs, and will be played using Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.

Recently, players on the game's Hacienda level -- a luxurious compound, meant to be owned by a drug kingpin of some sort -- started noticing something very odd.

Sound is particularly important in all competitive shooter games, with listening for footsteps and other sounds a key part of working out where your opponents are before they can get the drop on you.

On Hacienda, pros had starting reporting hearing mystery footsteps that were clearly not tied to player movements, throwing them off their game.

The source of these footsteps has now been isolated -- they're coming from a TIGER hidden underneath the villa.

Players haven't found a way of interacting with the jungle beast yet, and it can only be seen if you look through floor grates as it happens to wander past.

It is unclear if the tiger was only added in the game's most recent minor update, or if it has simply just become more obvious.