Despite the easing of social distancing measures in the United States, the Call of Duty League Challengers Finals will be held online, the league announced in a tweet on Sunday.
Call of Duty Challengers’ Finals to Transition Online
Even though restrictive measures have been eased up in several states, Activision has decided to hold the Challengers Finals event for the Call of Duty League online. The event will feature a $500,000 prize pool and reunite players from North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific.
The 2020 Challenges Finals will be played in a double-elimination format, although the date for the event has not been specified. Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ) will take place between August 1 and August 2 with the eight top-seeded teams in North America and Europe, and the four top-seeded teams from the APAC qualifier, progressing to the finals.
Meanwhile, the 24 teams with the highest Challengers Points score will not need to participate in the LCQ and qualify automatically for the Finals. The same will go for the 12 APAC teams with the highest Challengers Points count.
Qualified teams will have to stick with the lineups they have qualified with and no rotations in the rosters would be allowed. Final changes can be made by the date of the Toronto Ultra Open, July 24-26, which is the last Challengers event for the season. Activision will reveal further details about the events soon.
Rookies Get a Chance to Gun for the Big Money
Call of Duty Challengers was designed based on Activision/Blizzard’s other franchised game, Overwatch, and the Overwatch League (OWL), where a feeder league allows semi-professional players to be drafted into the main competition.
Unlike Overwatch Contenders, Challengers comes with a hefty prize pool with an estimated $1 million going out to players who compete and want to pursue a professional career in the Call of Duty franchise.
Originally, Challengers should have had both online and offline events, but with COVID-19 disrupting most of the world, including esports, the event will now transition to a fully online format.
Earlier in February, Call of Duty Challengers and Activision hoped to see multiple LAN events hosted in places such as London, Atlanta, Paris, Toronto, and other places, but those plans have been since scuppered.
The Call of Duty League itself is design similar to the OWL, featuring both Home and Away teams and allowing organizations to purchase franchised slots. The COD League has 12 teams and a total prize pool of $5,000,000 for the 2020 season.