Call of Duty League set to return to UK for Major II at DreamHack Birmingham

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 30/10/2025

Call of Duty League (CDL) has announced that it is returning to the UK, as DreamHack Birmingham will host the second Major of the CDL 2026 calendar on March 27-29.

The CDL Major is the second high-profile esport event confirmed for March’s DreamHack event, which will also feature DotA 2’s ESL One Birmingham.

The news is part of Activision’s shakeup to the CDL ecosystem ahead of the release of its new game, Black Ops 7.

The revamped CDL 2026 circuit will feature events across the United States, the UK, France, and in Riyadh for EWC 2026.

Unique format for Call of Duty Birmingham Major

Call of Duty League 2026 will branch out significantly in 2026, with three international destinations featured in the calendar, with the CDL returning to the UK after a five-year leave of absence.

The calendar sees two events in Europe, in Birmingham for Major II and Paris for Major IV, with the remaining significant events happening in the United States.

Major I, III, and Championship Weekend will be in Dallas, Atlanta, and Las Vegas, respectively.

Additionally, the Birmingham Major II will feature a unique format, unlike the other Majors in the 2026 calendar.

The Call of Duty League announced the format and scheduling changes, intending to give more importance to Major II and III.

As such, the Birmingham Major cycle will feature a Round-Robin group stage qualifier, where only the top 10 teams will advance to book their flights to Birmingham.

The event itself will feature a four-team play-in, resulting in a double-elimination eight-team playoff bracket.

Major III Atlanta will feature a Pro-AM Classic format, where four Challengers teams will qualify to the event to play against the 12 franchised teams.

The event features four GSL groups of four teams, with the top two of each group advancing to the double-elimination eight-team playoff bracket.

Additionally, the CDL calendar will include two Minor online tournaments during the Mjor II and Major IV cycles.

CDL changes as CoD esports prepares for Black Ops 7

The most obvious change for CDL 2026 that fans will notice instantly is that four teams have changed their names for 2026.

In a widely expected move, Atlanta FaZe is now FaZe Vegas. The move follows Falcons’ rebranding, which saw them move their home from NA to the Middle East, rebranding from Las Vegas Falcons to Riyadh Falcons

Minnesota RØKKR is now G2 Minnesota, and Toronto Ultra now feature their parent company in their branding as Toronto KOI.

The CDL League will also feature a new game type, with Black Ops debuting the ‘Overload’ game mode.

Overload features ‘overload devices,’ which essentially act like an American football, where players carry the device to their oppositions goals to score points.

The game mode replaces Control as the third game mode in the pool for the 2026 circuit.

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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