Call of Duty League is shifting to online-only games
The city is established Duty League shifts to a new format amidst the ongoing new coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, the league said that upcoming matches will be played online, unlike major events hosted by cities across North America and Europe. ‘Duty League has seen firsthand the power of our live events in our first season and will return to city matches for a live audience as soon as it is safe and logistically possible, ” reads the statement.
The league says upcoming games are still airing on YouTube for fans to watch, although it’s not clear when they will take place. The CDL says that “dates will be announced shortly.” The CDL is a relatively new league, which tries to combine the urban structure of traditional sports with a high level Duty Play. So far, competitions have been organized in Minnesota, London, Atlanta and Los Angeles. The Atlanta Faze and Chicago Huntsmen are currently stuck in the league’s rankings after the first four events.
The news comes just a day after the CDL’s sister competition, the Overwatch League, also announced the end of live events in March and April. Both leagues, which are owned by Activision Blizzard, operate under a similar city structure and were part of a joint broadcasting agreement with YouTube. Although the live OWL events have been canceled, the league says that matches will still be played in some form at the time, although it’s not yet clear what that will look like.
Other esports are performed in the same way. Only the top professional today League of Legends matches in Europe and North America announced that they would be playing games with no fans present. Late last month, the Chinese LPL also announced that it would be playing online games instead of in the studio.
Although several traditional sports competitions are forced to close, the digital character of esports likes to end Duty means that many leagues can still make some adjustments. “In the meantime Duty League is convinced that it will continue to provide fans with what they want: great competition between the best players, who compete at the highest level, to consider the law as the best team in the world, ”the CDL said in a statement.