Call of Duty League cancels all 2020 home series events

Activision Blizzard has announced that all Call of Duty League home series events for 2020 have been cancelled due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

The matches will be played online instead and broadcast to fans. Earlier this week, the company cancelled all Overwatch League home series events through April.

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Nine additional home series events were planned across various cities through June, as well as the All-Star Weekend and season-ending Championship Weekend. Activision Blizzard will announce new dates for the broadcasts of the online replacement matches.

“Call of Duty League has seen firsthand the power of our live events in our inaugural season, and will return to city-based competition in front of live audiences as soon as it is safe and logistically possible,” reads a statement posted to Twitter.

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Fears over the continuing spread of coronavirus have impacted every major title. Yesterday alone, Riot Games announced that the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) and League of Legends European Championship (LEC) will play their respective in-studio matches without audiences, plus the Smash World Tour for Super Smash Bros. removed upcoming events from its schedule.

Esports Insider says: Changes to the Call of Duty League schedule were inevitable after the Overwatch League announcement, but this is a significant blow to Activision Blizzard’s brand new franchised league in its very first season. Hopefully the online matches can maintain momentum until home matches become feasible again.

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