The Overwatch League had just started its third competitive season, where it had come to a halt. Activation Blizzard announced that all Overwatch League events in March and April canceled due to the coronavirus epidemic.
In a statement released to the public, the OWL representative wrote that "The health and safety of employees, fans, players, teams, and partners is of paramount importance in Activision Blizzard Esports. reasonable, staying close to the original schedule. ”
A total of eleven domestic events are canceled; some of these events were already delayed by the organizers, including a game hosted in France by Paris Forever. This follows interrupted games in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hinzhou, relocated to Seoul. Now, all games are off the board, though Blizzard's activation says they are looking at "the different options available in esports."
This was intended to be a global figure for the Overwatch League home and away system, which would have teams traveling around the world competing in the cities. With current concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, flying players returning to the aircraft is a major risk. Cities including San Fransisco and Paris were also excluded from the ban on crowd gatherings for the event.
League officials will be sharing "additional updates as needed", and Blizzard activation is currently planning to make interrupted games before the end of the season. In a tweet, Blizzard Esports activation manager Pete Vlastelica wrote "We will be playing games in March and April. We cancel events, not matches".
Obviously, we will play games in March and April. We canceled the events, not the matches (though we will have to move a few things out of the system to do this work). https://t.co/guxoTWLhMk
– Pete Vlastelica (@PeteVlastelica) March 11, 2020
A new edition will be announced, but matches will be held online and, as usual, broadcast on YouTube.
