The Call of Duty League has announced the return of offline events after losing out on over a year’s worth of tournaments.
Publisher Activision Blizzard has recognized the importance of having offline events for Call of Duty by bringing them back in coordination with franchised teams. The coronavirus pandemic forced teams from across the globe to relocate to North America, but even so, the league faced severe connection issues between teams that were competing from different locations. With Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, most teams moved to Texas to have a distinguished server connection. Most teams, despite franchise location, now reside there to obtain a competitive advantage.
An exception to this is the Toronto Ultra, currently located in Canada, who recently beat Atlanta FaZe to win the Stage 2 Major. Mark Bryceland, Toronto Ultra’s head coach, spoke about what the loser’s bracket run would have looked like if it were not online.
“Those moments would have been amazing in front of a live crowd,” said Bryceland.
Moments like Toronto Ultra’s miracle run are most exciting to celebrate in front of thousands of fans. The fans are what make the Call of Duty events so memorable.
Offline events return to select locations
The Call of Duty League proudly announced that each team would have its own home series throughout the year. However, only a select few teams were able to experience those events. COVID-19 hit North America hard and canceled most planned events. The last offline Call of Duty event was the Los Angeles home series. Both Los Angeles Guerrillas and OpTic Gaming Los Angeles shared this event in front of thousands of fans. Many were disappointed though, as they weren’t able to meet the players.
On stage together again.#CDL2021 pic.twitter.com/qjvhvQzJv7
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) April 14, 2021
Various Call of Duty franchised teams teased yesterday that offline tournaments would be returning. An animated gif surfaced from the Call of Duty League’s gamertag generator. When organizations put in their information, it gave the answer “BACK2LAN” as the teaser. Now, the Call of Duty League itself has confirmed the rumors.
