Concern over the COVID-19 coronavirus is spreading, and the video game industry is not immune. Several industry events have been outright canceled over safety issues, including E3 2020, arguably the biggest event of the year. Amid growing worries, the folks at Overwatch League have announced that all Overwatch League events for March and April of 2020 have been canceled.
This news was revealed through the official Overwatch League Twitter account. In the post, the team explains that they’re doing their best to make sure that all planned matches can be played whenever “it’s safe and logistically feasible.”
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) March 11, 2020
As things stand at the time of writing, the coronavirus concerns have only impacted events scheduled for March and April of 2020. Given the nature of the concerns, it’s possible that future events may also need to be canceled or postponed.
ALSO: How the coronavirus is affecting you and the video game industry
The post also states that the Overwatch League team is “considering the various options available to esports in this effort, so that all teams — including those previously impacted by scheduling changes in China — can get back to doing what they do best.”
Overwatch League fans looking for more information about these changes can find additional details online. The crew encourages fans to visit the websites of different host teams to see how their events have been affected. It’s also possible to check out the social media channels of each team or player to learn more.
If you haven’t been keeping up with the news, the coronavirus has had quite the impact on the games industry as a whole. E3 2020 was canceled most recently, as was SXSW. GDC 2020 has been postponed indefinitely, EVE Fanfest 2020 has been canceled, and social concerns even resulted in the removal of Plague Inc. from the Chinese App Store. If any other planned events are affected, we’ll be sure to let you know.
