Call of Duty League, the official league for Activision Blizzard’s popular shooter Call of Duty, announced locations of the Majors for the 2026 season and additional information on format and tier-2 Call of Duty competitions.
The announcement was made via YouTube and featured host Miles Ross and Call of Duty Esports General Manager Daniel Tsay recorded at the Activision Blizzard headquarters in Los Angeles.
2026 Majors Locations
Call of Duty League Major I will take place in Dallas and will be hosted by Optic Texas, followed by Major II at DreamHack Birmingham, taking place March 27 – 29, 2026 (a triumphant return for the league after a five-year absence). Major III will be held in Atlanta, with details on that to be announced at a later date. Major IV will take place in Paris, and Championship Weekend will be hosted in Las Vegas, Nevada, by FaZe Vegas.
Details, including ticketing, dates, and other details, are to be announced as we get closer to the start of the 2026 season. Tsay also announced that Call of Duty League will be making a stop at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2026.
Formats for 2026
Major I and Major IV will continue to have the playoff race elements, so CDL wanted to focus on tweaking the format for Major II and Major IV in 2026. Major I and Major II will have a longer stretch of time between them next season, allowing for a full round robin during the online qualifying stage. During this span of time, every team is going to play against each other for a total of 11 matches each, with two teams being knocked out of contention for Major II in Birmingham. The Teams seeds 7 through 10 will then compete in a play-in to round out a double-elimination bracket of eight teams.
“So, the goal of this is really twofold,” explained Tsay in the announcement. “On the front end, those online qualifying matches instantly have consequential stakes to them. And then on the back end with the tournament, it’s going to be concentrated on the most competitive teams and showcase the highest quality gameplay.” More details on the format changes will be made available on the official CDL site.
The other major change is the return of the ProAm Classic. Four challenger teams will be invited to compete alongside the 12 CDL teams and will be split into four groups of four competing in a GSL format. The top two teams from each group will advance to a double-elimination eight-team bracket. Tsay added that CDL also plans to have two minor tournaments in Major III and Major IV. Finally, Overload, the new mode for Black Ops 7, will replace Control for the 2026 season.
More Support for Challengers
For Challengers, Tsay revealed that in 2026, there will be more opportunities for tier-2 Call of Duty teams, jumping from three to four Challengers Opens, with one at each major hosted by the league. The Middle East is going to be added to the EU Challenger region, to create more opportunities for teams there.
We suspect there will be more fleshed-out details prior to or during the opening weekend on Dec. 5.
For more details, check out the announcement video below.