Coronavirus outbreak forces ESL Pro League Season 11 to go online-only

The cancellation of E3 because of the Covid-19 coronavirus is the large information of the day, however it’s simply one in all many occasions being cancelled or modified. ESL has now introduced that the upcoming ESL Professional League Season 11 CS:GO event will likely be performed on-line, and that the finals will likely be moved from the 1stBank Heart in Denver, Colorado, to a studio location in Europe, with no reside viewers.

“This choice was largely motivated by the truth that Malta, the nation of our initially deliberate studio location, has instituted a variety of journey restrictions and quarantine laws as of immediately. We totally assist all measures aimed toward containing the Covid-19 dynamics as a lot as attainable. These journey restrictions have made it inconceivable for a considerable amount of workers and the vast majority of groups to make their strategy to the deliberate season location,” ESL mentioned in a statement.

“Due to this, as a substitute of getting over 100 gamers, coaches, crew members and ESL workers in a single location over a number of weeks, groups and gamers will likely be enjoying their matches both from dwelling, crew homes or in appropriate boot camp areas in Europe and play out their matches on devoted on-line servers.”

The coronavirus outbreak has compelled modifications to multiple gaming events, ranging from big shows like GDC and E3 to game-specific conferences such as Minecraft Festival and EVE Fanfest. Numerous esports competitions have also been halted or moved to online-only, including the Hearthstone Masters Tour Los Angeles, the Rocket League Season 9 World Championship, IEM Katowice, and the League of Legends China Pro Series.

ESL said the teams and Counter-Strike Professional Players Association have been “extremely supportive,” and teams are now opening their facilities to players coming in from other countries. “We are deeply sorry to all fans who have been looking forward to seeing the Finals in Denver and are hoping to bring an event there soon,” it said. “Needless to say, we will refund all tickets and fans will be receiving further instruction from 1stBank Center shortly.”

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For more information on the Covid-19 coronavirus, visit the Centers for Disease Control for updates in North America, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, or the World Health Organization.