COVID-19 Hits Mobile Esports; Free Fire Champions Cup to Be Held At Later Date

Cover and thumbnail via The Asian Age

The coronavirus outbreak of 2020 is surely one of the biggest stories of this year and it's easy to see the effect and impact of a large scale global pandemic. With increasing fears and rapidly growing concerns from governments world wide, esport events have already begun to feel a brunt of the outbreak. Earlier this month, IEM Katowice, one of Counter Strike’s legacy events had to be held in an empty stadium after the coronavirus scae was perceived to be a real threat in the region.

In China, the League of Legends Pro League and Overwatch League matches have all been indefinitely postponed due to COVID-19. And more recently, the disease has begun to affect mobile esports as well. Garena announced yesterday that the Free Fire Champions Cup which is supposed to be held in Jakarta in the month of April has been postponed due to concerns regarding COVID-19. 

With a host of PUBG MOBILE and MLBB LANs also set to be played out in the coming months, there have already been worries as to whether these could stop any moment. 2020 was tipped to be a big year for mobile esport titles but external factors might seriously hamper the chances and the progress that was expected. However, safety should be of utmost priority and although the feeling isn't great, it still is the right decision in the long run.