League of Legends Pro League
Broadcasts for the League of Legends Pro League resumed in China on March 10 after a six-week hiatus.
- The spread of the coronavirus is presenting esports leagues, gaming events, and players with unprecedented challenges.
- Esports leagues operating in China, South Korea, and Japan were brought to a halt earlier this year and now events in Europe and the United States are being cancelled, postponed, or blocking attendees.
- The global audience of esports is one of the industry's biggest strengths, but the coronavirus is testing whether event organizers can effectively manage an international crisis.
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The international reach of esports is one of the industry's greatest strengths, but the global spread of the coronavirus is presenting gaming leagues, events, and players with unprecedented challenges.
The World Health Organization and health officials in multiple countries are advising against large gatherings in areas impacted by the coronavirus, which has spread to more than 100 countries so far. For the esports industry, which relies on international travel and live events, the coronavirus presents a major threat and has demanded an immediate response from the community.
A report released by Newzoo in February anticipated esports growing into a billion-dollar industry in 2020 after generating around $950 million in revenue during 2019. The report projected that nearly 500 million viewers would watch at least one esports broadcast during the year.
But esports leagues operating in China, South Korea, and Japan were brought to a halt early in the year amid the coronavirus outbreak. China is the world's largest esports market and Newzoo had expected it to generate $385 million in 2020 revenue.
Activision Blizzard cancelled Overwatch League events planned for Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou in February and March. Riot Games suspended live "League of Legends" competitions in China and South Korea for weeks before announcing that the matches would be played online, rather than in front of live audience.
With Europe rethinking large gatherings, major esports events are refunding thousands of tickets
As the coronavirus continues spread through Europe and North America, other esports events have faced costly repercussions.
Riot announced that the League of Legends European Championship would move from Budapest to Berlin for the Spring Finals and fan interactions with players will be limited during the Spring Finals for the US League of Legends Championship in Frisco, Texas in April.
Intel Extreme Masters Katowice, a tournament with $1 million in prize money, was forced to refund tickets for thousands of fans after the governor of Poland's Silesia province revoked the event's approval for a mass gathering on Feb. 27 - less than 24 hours before the three-day event was scheduled to begin.
ESL, the event's main organizer, announced that IEM Katowice would continue without fans in attendance. Michal "Carmac" Blicharz, the lead organizer of IEM, became emotional as he apologized to fans for the sudden change of events during the event's broadcast.
Despite the live audience not being allowed to attend, more than 1 million concurrent viewers watched the main event, setting a viewership record record for "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive." Carmac told HLTV that IEM will review its upcoming events on a case-by-case basis to determine the best course of action. The next IEM event is scheduled for August 22 and 23 in Melbourne, Austrailia. Austrailia had 92 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of March 10.
This year marked Activision's move to traveling schedules for the Overwatch League and the newly launched Call of Duty League, but the spread of the coronavirus has already caused the cancellation of multiple events.
Following the cancellation of matches in China and South Korea, the Overwatch League's Paris Eternal cancelled its April 11 to 12 homestand event in response to the French ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people. The Overwatch League season began more than a month ago, and the five teams based in China and South Korea have yet to play an official match due to travel restrictions.
Even grassroots community events are being impacted
In the US, event organizers are also taking precautions as major conferences like SXSW and the Game Developers Conference cancel and delay their plans.
NorCal Regionals, a grassroots fighting game tournament planned from April 10 to 12 in San Jose, California, announced that the event would be cancelled after Santa Clara County announced a three-week ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people. Prior to the cancellation, several video game publishers, including Capcom and Namco Bandai, had announced they would not participate.
Final Kombat, the world championship event for "Mortal Kombat 11," announced that it would block audience members from attending the event less than a day before the finals were scheduled to begin. "MK11" developer NetherRealm Studios also blocked 109 players who planned to compete for a spot in the finals during the last chance qualifier tournament on March 7. The company said it would reimburse travel and ticket costs for competitors and fans who planned to attend.
"If you purchased a ticket, do not show up to the venue," NetherRealm said in a statement. "Your ticket will be fully refunded. Only the top 16 players competing in the Final Kombat 2020 tournament and staff will be admitted to these events."
Even event organizers working at the smallest of scales have been forced to consider the impact of the coronavirus. Aziz "Hax" Al-Yami, host of the weekly "Super Smash Bros. Melee" tournament Hax's Nightclub in New York City, announced that the event would be on hiatus. Hax Nightclub brings in about 60 competitors each week.
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