Call of Duty League is planning a comeback this year, revealing a tentative schedule for in-person matches around next month, June.
After moving fully online due to threats of COVID-19, the Call of Duty League will come back, albeit without audience members. These come after the game’s resounding success over the pandemic period.
CoD League to start June 17
Activision offered previous announcements of its plans to bring back some of their eSports titles soon. Among these was Overwatch, with three Chinese teams ready to return to live matches for this year’s OWL season.
https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1390351150311002115
So far, the leagues for Call of Duty will return live in America, with on-site games coming for the Major IV in Dallas. To be specific, the event will be at the Dallas Empire’s Arlington Stadium in Texas.
The teams will be matching up face to face for sure. The only difference with past seasons will be the audience, which will be nonexistent. There will be no cheering crowds this year, with Activision pushing for a skeletal crew and essential-only on-site.
Activision itself wants “limited League staff” in attendance. Preparations for COVID-19 emergencies and precautions are also being set in place. Even then, it’s easy to expect that online events won’t be going away for the game soon.
Other eSports league also restart outside the US
Call of Duty League will continue some online-only events throughout the pandemic. Their eSports staff are ever smaller, with Activision-Blizzard laying off employees. As many as 50 eSports-related staff were cut off, reiterating their push for stronger digital tournaments.
The league has a tentative date of June 17, which is around 40 days away. A virtual-only Major III tourney will kick off on May 13, which will continue the competitions.
Even then, the CoD League is not the first competitive eSports tourney to come back live. Valorant has already went ahead with its VCT Masters Stage 2. The leagues will happen in Reykjavik, which will start this coming May 24th.
The recently mentioned OWL will start on June 4 in China. The COD League will be the first US-based mega-eSports outfit. There is still a ton of risk that comes with such a league, especially with COVID-19 bringing bigger waves at the moment.
While many are getting vaccinations in the US, it will take some time before herd immunity becomes a reality. Even then, eSports leagues are something that competitive teams would want to participate soon.
More details about the Call of Duty League will be available in the weeks to come.
Featured image courtesy of Call of Duty League/Youtube Screenshot