Both EA and Riot Games will be suspending their Esports activities for the foreseeable future in order to help stem the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. This move is yet another in a long line of cancellations throughout the entertainment industry as more and more productions and events shut down due to either forced or preventative quarantines which will hopefully reduce the amount of person-to-person contact and contamination.
From shutting down Disneyland to delaying a large number of big-ticket movie releases, the coronavirus has put a massive dent in the production schedules of not just movies and television shows, but video games as well. New reports have suggested that the development and distribution of next-generation game consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X could be delayed because of the impact from the coronavirus outbreak, and a large number of Esports tournaments have been either cancelled or held without an audience.
Now, both EA and Riot Games have announced that they are also shutting down their Esports activities temporarily, as reported by Polygon. In a message posted to Twitter and embedded below, the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) account stated that they were "committed to keeping the health and safety of players, fans, and everyone to makes the LCS possible at the forefront of every decision we make." For this reason, they have decided to suspend all LCS and academy games "for the immediate future." Thankfully, LCS Commissioner Chris Creeley offered a little hope to players in a replying Tweet, saying "FYI - We are looking to shift our play to remote games (i.e. teams not on site) and get the LCS back as soon as possible."
EA posted their own message about the impacts of coronavirus on their official website, stating that "This is an unprecedented time," and they will be "suspending all live events for EA's competitive gaming series." This suspension began immediately and also includes any and all "EA-operated events as well as third-party events run under license from EA" and "all competitive gaming content except for broadcasts that can be individually produced remotely." These suspensions and rules will be in place "until the global coronavirus situation improves" and includes events for games like Apex Legends, FIFA 20, and Madden NFL 20.
As of right now, it's unclear as to just when that time of global improvement will begin, and even E3 has been cancelled. While multiple governments and industries are doing everything in their power to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, there still remains a large percentage of the population who will continue to go about their daily lives as normal and could end up infecting even larger portions of the world. With the number of confirmed cases (and deaths) rising in multiple countries around the globe, it's important for everyone to try and do their part to stop coronavirus from spreading any more than it already has. Hopefully, things will be able to go back to normal soon, and EA and Riot Games fans can get back to being competitive once again.
Sources: Polygon, LCS/Twitter, EA