It looks like major changes are coming in the future for the Call of Duty League. Players won’t have to wait until the next season in 2022 to see them happen. Activision has revealed that Call of Duty League LAN events could be coming back much sooner than we expected.
Activision Says Call of Duty League LAN Events Return This Year
The official CDL Twitter account posted a simple tweet with the caption of “on stage together again.” Accompanying the tweet was a short letter from the organization in an image. The announcement letter notes that there are some huge plans in the pipeline for the current 2021 season.
After coordinating with the 12 teams in the pro league, Activision is happy to announce that the Call of Duty League LAN events will be returning sometime this year, with more details to come soon. But what we do know is that these LAN events will be limited in fashion.
They will not seemingly be the bulk of the events in the rest of the 2021 season at all but, rather, selectively chosen. However, Activision has made it clear that it does mean during the current second season that we are in for the CDL when it says later this year.
This isn’t the only announcement of this kind, either, as Activision has also revealed at the same time that the Overwatch League will be returning to LAN events as well this year. It seems that this is a company-wide policy change that is happening and will be affecting both games.
Breaking Down This Announcement
To make the matter more clear, let’s break down this particular announcement. After all, Activision gave us very few details to go on at this time, and it is uncertain when we will find out more information, especially given how selective this change seems to be.
For one, it needs to be made abundantly clear that the Call of Duty League LAN events will not be for the remainder of the entire 2021 season. It is made clear that these will be select events, so it will likely be a rare occurrence rather than the standard once more.
However, that does not rule out the LAN events returning to permanence in the future with the 2022 season. We imagine that plans are underway for that season to be back to normal, so to speak, and for that season to look like the olden days when we had teams frequently competing onstage together.
Also, Activision noted that this was in coordination with the teams means that each organization has agreed to return to this format at some point and for some events. While this might not be huge for fans who watched online anyways, this is major for those teams.
After all, it was proven last year at the beginning of the inaugural season of the league that some teams and players do better when playing LAN in-person rather than online events that we have had thus far in the 2021 season.
This could result in some surprises at these events. Some of the more online-focused teams are doing worse than before or just caught off-guard, while other teams that weren’t doing too well actually showing up and performing wonderfully since it is a different environment.
With LAN events, there are so many issues that aren’t present there that you do have to deal with in online competitions. Lag, internet issues, network problems, connection bugs, and all of those sorts of issues are irrelevant since they are mitigated by everyone working on the same connection in person.
This is huge news for the teams. It will be interesting to see how those future LAN events will affect the standings and results of some of the most important competitions in the 2021 season.
How and Where These Events Will Take Place
But how and where will these events take place? This is something that Activision has to figure out soon, and no details about them were given at this time. Let’s start with the how. LAN means that everyone is likely in the same vicinity as they are using the same local connection.
Activision doesn’t begin the tweet with “on stage together again” for no reason. We take this to mean that it will happen on a stage with the production and quality of the events that we had in the past. Two teams on a huge stage, with their setups lined up nicely, and everyone competing right next to one another.
This is how it will happen with everyone on the same connection, but where will it happen? This is the tricky part of the whole situation that needs to be figured out. Last year, the initial plan was for teams to host one another from week to week and event to event.
We had the initial event in Minneapolis, with the Rokkr hosting everyone there for the opening event. From there, we went to different Home Series where the spotlight team for that series was the host of everyone, with all of the teams playing in a stadium near there.
However, that setup won’t work here. As such, we imagine that Activision is working hard to figure out a location where everyone can meet together in the same spot for these special in-person events. In my opinion, there are two likely candidates for where this will happen.
As you may know, many of the teams are based in Texas currently, for whatever reason, and not just the Dallas Empire, so we could see an event happen somewhere in Dallas or another part of Texas like Houston where the Overwatch team is based.
The second option is to have it in Los Angeles simply. Two of the teams are based there, potentially more, and Activision itself is in the LA area. It would make sense to rent out one of the many venues in the area and have the teams fly in, quarantine for a while, and then compete together at the location.
When We Will Likely See the LAN Events
Now that we have the how and where, it is more important to talk about these Call of Duty League LAN events. They aren’t going to be too common this season, so this means that Activision is likely saving them for the most important competitions for the year.
As such, it is all but certain that the playoffs and championship are included in this. They are at the end of the season, so they benefit from that time passing, and they are the biggest tournaments in the entire year, so there is no doubt that they will be some of these LAN events.
But I think it is possible that we won’t have to wait until then to see the Call of Duty League LAN events return. There may be some events before that, and I can think of a couple of them that would make sense for this return to onstage competitions.
At this time in the season, the second stage just concluded with the second Major tournament. Now we are gearing up for the third stage in the season that will have three weeks of normal matches followed by the third Major at the end of that month.
I think that anything in the third stage is likely too soon. This decision is probably made recently by the league organizers, so I don’t think that a LAN event will be ready by the end of the third stage. However, I think we could see something after that.
It doesn’t make much sense to have a huge event like this for the first three weeks of a stage, but the Major is, well, pretty huge. It would make a whole lot of sense to have one of these tournaments be a LAN event. I could even see the fourth Major be the first LAN event in the season.
That would ensure that teams can warm up there again onstage and then go into the fifth and final stage with that practice behind them. Do the first three weeks online, then have the fifth Major be in person, too. That will close out the normal season, and the playoffs can be LAN as well. That’s what makes the most sense to me, given where we are in the season.
Measures That Should Be Taken
I’m going to be real with you, though. While we should celebrate the Call of Duty League LAN events’ future return, it needs to be done smartly. While I would normally expect Activision to do this and have no problem with it, there is a huge issue that I, personally, have.
That is because the company just fired a huge portion of the workers behind LAN and live events like these. For them to then turn around and announce the return of those events after letting them go? That’s a new level of cruelty, even for Activision.
This tells me that it is likely that the publisher is outsourcing the events management and details to a third-party company for the LAN events that will be held this year. This is problemsome, too, as it means that some matters could be overlooked given that it isn’t Activision directly overseeing it.
Certain measures need to be taken during this pandemic time, especially when making a significant shift. For one, I don’t believe that anyone should be forced to do anything right now when it comes to the vaccine, but players should at least be encouraged and have the opportunity to take the vaccine if they medically can.
Beyond that, there are a lot of venue decisions that should be made. When you watch the matches online right now, players are not wearing masks, and they are sitting next to one another and near their team’s leaders. This is somewhat understandable (but not really) since many of the players live together and are exposed to one another.
But when it comes to the LAN events, you interact with other teams that you aren’t necessarily around much. In my opinion, this means that there should be adequate ventilation in the area to eliminate as many COVID particles as possible, and teams should be very far away from one another on stage.
All equipment should be doubly cleaned between matches and, in my opinion, everyone should be wearing masks at all times. Or, at the very least, everyone who isn’t currently participating in a match should wear a mask while at the event.
And this goes with all of the other usual stuff like teams should quarantine for 14 days before each LAN event. There should be temperature checks every day before the event, and everyone should have to have a negative test before competing.
Will Fans Be Allowed at These Events?
Many of you reading this might be excited at the thought of Call of Duty League LAN events returning as you might think that you can cheer on your favorite team in person. That is sorely missed. There is nothing like that, but that is one measure that should be taken seriously for now.
Even if there are in-person events, the number of people at the venue should be limited to essential personnel. The organizers that are needed, the teams, their leadership, and that is it. No other nonessential personnel should be there, and I know that, unfortunately, means reporters like myself, too.
We have gotten used to watching events online at this point with the Call of Duty League, so there is no reason why we can’t continue to do that. The purpose of the LAN event is to offer players the most competitive and secure possible way of competing against one another.
The other purpose is to have the hype and quality of an in-person event again. Fans can still benefit from that through streaming as you will be able to see the stage, lights, and professional quality once more. And we won’t have to deal with those trashy fake backdrops any longer, so the viewing will be much more enjoyable overall.
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Source: https://www.esportstalk.com/news/call-of-duty-league-lan-events-selectively-return-this-year/
