The Overwatch League recently announced the cancellation of weeks five, six, and seven, which were set to take place in South Korea. Due to the spread of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, many leagues and companies have had to make changes to scheduled events.
The OWL had already previously cancelled homestand events in the Chinese cities of Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. They were to be moved to a later date in South Korea; however, the spread of the virus has worsened just over the past weekend. With over 786 cases of coronavirus and seven deaths, authorities raised the country’s alert to “highest level,” prompting the OWL to cancel planned events.
“In order to protect the health and safety of our players, fans, and staff, we are cancelling plans to host Overwatch League 2020 matches in South Korea in Weeks 5, 6, and 7, including the Seoul Dynasty home event,” the OWL stated on Twitter.
In order to protect the health & safety of our players, fans, & staff, we are canceling plans to host #OWL2020 matches in South Korea in Weeks 5, 6, and 7, including the @SeoulDynasty home event.
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) February 24, 2020
We’ll share more info about when and where matches will take place at a later.
Dynasty had plans to host six matches during Week 5.
“In order to protect the health and safety of our players, fans, and staff, we will no longer be holding the March Seoul Dynasty Homestand event in Seoul on March 7th and 8th. We are working with the league on rescheduling these matches and will share more information through the league when it is available,” Dynasty said in a statement.
People who purchased tickets for the March homestand will be issued a full refund.
Dynasty continued, “We are making every effort to ensure our players’ well-being and safety. Please stay safe during this difficult time. Thank you for your support and understanding.”
The spread of coronavirus has forced many companies and teams to make schedule changes, including Kojima Productions, Sony, and Facebook. In China, the confirmed cases have skyrocketed to over 76,000, with the global death toll rising to 2,458. Iran has reported five deaths from the coronavirus, while Japan has reported three deaths, and Hong Kong, Italy, and South Korea each reported two deaths. Taiwan, the Philippines, and France have each reported one death.
With the virus reaching areas outside of China, more scheduled events like GDC and PAX East could face cancellations. In addition, the outbreak could continue to affect manufacturing and distribution for companies such as Valve and Nintendo.
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Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/overwatch-league-south-korea-coronavirus/
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