Activision Blizzard announced plans for the Call of Duty League to return on Friday, April 10, after getting derailed by the coronavirus, officially named COVID-19. The developer also detailed how the rest of the season will run without matches taking place in arenas locally.
As with previous events, matches will stream on Call of Duty League’s official YouTube channel. Envy Gaming’s Dallas Empire will host this weekend’s competition, which will span three days with a group stage on Friday. Saturday will see teams advance to the knockout stage of competitive play and the bracket will reach the semifinals. The tournament will conclude on Sunday, April 12, with championship matches as teams compete to become the inaugural Call of Duty League Champion.
“I spent many years at the NFL, and saw firsthand how sports can lift the human spirit,” league commissioner Johanna Faries said. “No one wants to be in this situation, but we are, and we’re thankful that Call of Duty League can forge ahead and deliver live competition to fans when it’s probably needed most.”
The Call of Duty League launched earlier this year and features 12 city-based teams. After a successful launch weekend, the league put on three events in London, Atlanta, and Los Angeles before temporarily suspending operations due to the pandemic. The Chicago Huntsmen will host the next online event on April 24-26, and Florida Mutineers (May 8-10) and the Seattle Surge (May 22-24) will host next. In June, the Minnesota Rokkr (June 5-7) and Paris Legion (June 19-21) will take over, and the regular season ends in July after events hosted by the New York Subliners (July 10-12), London Royal Ravens (July 17-19), and the Toronto Ultra (July 24-26).
So far this season, the Atlanta Faze and Chicago Huntsmen are tied with 90 points. The Dallas Empire (80) and Minnesota Rokkr (70) trail behind in the championship bracket, and wildcards Paris Legion (50), Florida Mutineers (50), London Royal Ravens (40), and OpTic Gaming Los Angeles (20) follow. Teams looking to improve into a wild card spot include the Seattle Surge (20), Toronto Ultra (10), Los Angeles Guerrillas (10), and New York Subliners (10).
Competitive Call of Duty play previously fell under the now-defunct Call of Duty World League. The former series was shut down after the 2019 season in favor of the current Call of Duty League, which looks to replicate Activision Blizzard’s success with Overwatch League.
