Call of Duty esports centered around four-player teams for many years before the 2018-2019 World League season. Indeed, the move marks a “return to our roots,” CDL Commissioner Johanna Faries suggested in an announcement. “This decision was made in close collaboration with our teams and players, and it was not made lightly.”

The league will reveal more plans for 2021 — including details on maps, formats and the schedule — during the offseason. There’ll also be a shift from Modern Warfare to the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

Meanwhile, there’s a bit more CDL action on the way this year. The All Star Weekend takes place from September 12th-13th, which could mark the last time fans will see pros compete in five vs five matches anytime soon. The 2021 CDL year starts the following day.

Esports lives on @YouTubeGaming.

Welcome to the family, Overwatch League, Call of Duty League, and Hearthstone Esports.

Let’s get this thing going with the inaugural season of the Call of Duty league kicking off today! https://t.co/9PAUaaQSz0https://t.co/p9kSbD9aAi pic.twitter.com/rBVpf0Re3H

— Ryan Wyatt (@Fwiz) January 24, 2020

As part of a multi-year deal, Google Cloud will handle the publisher’s game hosting and streaming infrastructure. In a press release, Google said Activision Blizzard opted for Cloud “because of its highly reliable global footprint, advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, and commitment to open source, creating a platform for building future gaming innovations.” It also suggested the company might use Cloud AI tools to provide “curated recommendations for in-game offers.”

Losing Overwatch League and a chance to stream Call of Duty League is the latest in a string of blows for Twitch. It hosted OWL for the last two seasons and paid Blizzard a reported $90 million to be the league’s streaming partner in a two-year deal. By some estimates, Overwatch League was the most-watched channel on Twitch in the third quarter of 2019.

A number of big names have also jumped ship from Twitch in favor of other streaming platforms over the last few months, including Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek and Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter. It did manage to hang onto some popular streamers, including Benjamin “DrLupo” Lupo, Saqib “LIRIK” Zahid and Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar, but losing OWL is another setback for Twitch in its quest to remain the livestreaming kingpin.

Same league. Same heroic moments. New home

Watch #OWL2020 only on @YouTubeGaming at https://t.co/tbTGBsbQac pic.twitter.com/NpgLBUWkcv

— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) January 24, 2020