A venue change and now a schedule change accompanies the announcement.
Call of Duty League Major 4 will now take place in Columbus, OH. The event will have no fans but will remain to be in a LAN setting, with all 12 teams traveling to Ohio for the tournament.
This event will be the first of its kind without a crowd since the Covid-19 pandemic. That makes it the first in two years of Call of Duty League action.
Originally, the Major 4 tournament was going to be held by the New York Subliners. As first reported by Esports.gg, Major 1 winners New York had to give the event up after a multitude of issues led to it being unfeasible to hold the event.
Subliners were going to hold the event at the King's Theatre in Brooklyn. It was going to be the same venue as last year's Major 4. Sponsorship and venue space issues contributed to them giving it up.
The CDL deemed it necessary for them to have a Challengers Open at the event. There was no space for one to be held in Brooklyn.
The Call of Duty League left themselves in a sticky situation after taking the Major away from New York. A replacement venue had to be found and on short notice too.
Most theatre-like venues take bookings over a year in advance. This made it super difficult for the Call of Duty League to find somewhere to host Major 4.
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Major 4 venue changed
Consideration was even in place for a Major that would take place online, rather than on LAN. If that were to happen, there would be a lot of upset fans and pro players, who at the very least, expect Majors to be on LAN.
The official CDL announcement stated that they look forward to seeing CDL fans in Toronto at Major 5. They also confirmed that all of the Major 4 action will be streamed online for all fans to watch, as is the norm.
"Due to Major 4 no longer taking place in New York, the tournament will take place on LAN with no live audience in Columbus, Ohio," the statement said.
"Fans can still stream all of the action online to see who will be crowned Major 4 champion from April 20-23. We look forward to seeing everyone again in Toronto for Major 5."
Schedule change
The venue change has also come with a slight change in the CDL schedule too. They have moved the dates of the event around slightly to accommodate a more regular schedule for the second half of the season.
2022 Pro-Am in Columbus
It will not be the first time that the Call of Duty League has hosted an event in Columbus. Last year's Pro-Am tournament, coincidentally won by the New York Subliners, was also in the city.
That event took place at the Belong Gaming Arena in Columbus. It hosted the 12 CDL teams and four of the top Challengers teams at the venue as they played a throwback-style tournament. The format of that was replicated at Major 1 of this season in Raleigh, NC, to widespread approval from fans.
