New Call of Duty League format and Warzone tournament announced

The Call of Duty League has announced some significant changes to the format of the remaining events in the 2020 season, as well as a new Warzone tournament, and in-game rewards for watching matches.

Like almost all esports events, the inaugural season of the CDL has suffered some setbacks due to the ongoing global crisis. Home Series events have been forced to move online, which throws up its own problems for server connections and broadcasting the matches.

After three online tournaments, the CDL has announced some big changes for future events. Perhaps most importantly is the fact that all twelve league teams will now compete at the Call of Duty League Championship.

The curtain closer of the season will now welcome all 12 teams, for a jam-packed weekend of Call of Duty action.

CDL Championship changes

The Call of Duty League Championship, the final event of the season, will now feature all 12 teams, rather than only the top eight. League standings will determine each team’s starting position at this final event in August.

1st and 2nd placed teams in the CDL Standings will automatically skip the first two rounds of the event’s Winner’s Bracket, and the event will be played in a double-elimination format.

CDL Warzone Weekends

Warzone, the battle royale mode in Modern Warfare, is one of the most popular games in the world currently, and the CDL will now be incorporating it into their competitive tournaments.

• Read more: How to open Warzone’s vaults

Starting with CDL Seattle (May 22-24), all twelve teams will be dropping into a 48-player Quads match of Warzone. The winning team will even net themselves a cool $10,000.

The tournament will be live-to-tape and shown before the final matches start at CDL Seattle on Sunday, May 24.

Who will win the CDL’s first match-up in Verdansk?

In-game rewards for watching CDL

Activision are finally giving viewers what they’ve been longing for on the YouTube-exclusive broadcasts: in-game rewards. For watching CDL action, Modern Warfare players will be able to earn exclusive CDL team-themed Emblems, Sprays, Animated Calling Cards and more.

This has been a highly requested feature from the community for a long time, and will hopefully encourage more casual fans to check out the streams, too.

• Read more: Scump reveals main reason he prefers M4 over Grau in Warzone

But, it’s not been announced when exactly this will be starting, or how exactly players will earn the rewards. More details should be coming soon.

Even more in-game items are set to join the plethora of CDL cosmetics already available in Modern Warfare.

CDL Bracket Challenge

For an added bit of fun while watching the tournament, the new bracket challenge will allow you to predict the winners of each match-up over the weekend. Keep an eye on the official Call of Duty League website for when the draft goes live!

Next up is CDL Seattle. You can find the full schedule and streams for the event here.