The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading rapidly in European countries and is negatively affecting all aspects of daily life, including Esports.
CS:GO fans certainly still remember the empty Spodek Arena, the venue for IEM Katowice 2020, one of the most traditional and prestigious tournaments of the year for CS:GO.
The list of LAN events and tournaments affected is getting longer as the Overwatch League has announced the cancellation of all their tournaments in March and April, and yesterday E3 2020, the largest electronic entertainment expo of the year, was also canceled.
Last night, ESL officially announced the change of the format for the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 11 to online, and the Final will be moved to a studio in Europe instead of Denver, USA as originally planned. This announcement came just hours after Malta, the island nation hosting the tournament, added four countries to its entry restrictions list: Germany, France, Switzerland, and Spain to prevent the spread of this dangerous virus.
In their announcement, ESL explained that the restrictions on travel and entry imposed by European countries made it impossible to move large amounts of equipment and staff, and some teams could not travel to and stay at a location for several weeks as originally planned. Currently, most teams are already in Europe at gaming houses or bootcamp locations and will compete online.
“To ensure the safety and health of players, staff, and fans, we will move the location of the Final from Denver to a studio in Europe to minimize travel distance and reduce the risk of unfortunate incidents.
We sincerely apologize to all fans who were looking forward to the Final in Denver and hope that we can hold an event there in the future. Furthermore, we will refund ticket prices and fans will receive detailed instructions from 1STBANK Center in the coming days.”
A few days ago, Flashpoint – the tournament system operated by Faceit – also announced that the Final in Stockholm has been canceled and the first season will be played entirely in a studio in Los Angeles, USA.
As of 7:30 AM on March 12 (Vietnam time), there are over 125,000 confirmed cases worldwide with over 4,500 deaths. This morning, the US announced entry restrictions for all of Europe (excluding the UK) and did not rule out the possibility of declaring a national emergency. The NBA has also halted its games after a player tested positive for COVID-19.
