The Call of Duty League has revealed the new location and timing of 2023’s Major Four, and it won’t include a live audience.
Major IV will now take place on LAN in Columbus, Ohio, from April 20 to 23. The preceding three weekends will consist of the online qualifier portion. The league will return to a live audience for Major V in Toronto.
Major Four was originally scheduled to be hosted by the New York Subliners, but the team was forced to back out from hosting the event for “a variety of circumstances,” leaving the league scrambling to find a new host.
A new host from the league’s 12 teams was not found, and so the event will go on from a broadcast studio in Ohio. This is a loss for fans looking to attend the event in person, but there will still be several more spectator LANs throughout the year.
“Spoke on Major IV options last Community Update and appreciate the patience as we worked through our assessment,” CDL commissioner Daniel Tsay said on Twitter. “We’d love to have a crowd but tough to execute in a short amount of time. Keeping the event on LAN was paramount.”
Tsay also explained the schedule change, saying the league “previously moved up Major Four a week due to NY venue availability” and “this resulted in a two-week bye after Major Four.” With the change, the league “will go back to original schedule of two-week mid-season break and the usual one-week bye between Majors.”
A previous report stated the CDL was trying to find a new host for the Major within the league’s franchise organizations, along with attempting to have the CDL Championship Weekend hosted in Las Vegas later this year.
CDL’s Major Three is currently ongoing, with pro CoD matches due to continue tomorrow when Atlanta FaZe faces off against the London Royal Ravens.
