All live events for the Overwatch League will be canceled for the remainder of the 2020 season due to the continued threat of COVID-19, the league announced today. Live events were already canceled through May 1 and the league has moved to an online tournament model to continue competition.
“Given the ongoing global health situation, and in discussion with all our teams, we are officially shifting the remaining regular-season homestand events for Weeks 14-27 to a fully online competition and broadcast format,” the Overwatch League said.
This widespread cancellation affects 28 total live events, or weekend “homestands,” that were set to take place in May, June, July, and August. These were global events, but the majority were set to take place in North America. Schedules for online competition will be released on a weekly basis.
Details about the season’s playoff games and eventual grand finals event, normally held in September, will be released at a later time, according to the Overwatch League.
For the 2020 season, the Overwatch League aimed to test localization, moving teams across the globe and hosting two homestand events each weekend. These homestands were set to take place in teams’ home cities, from Seoul to Paris.
Five weekends of homestands took place in North America in February and early March. Meanwhile, all Overwatch League events in China and South Korea were canceled through April 1 due to the coronavirus. As the virus spread to Europe and North America, the league then made the decision to hold off on all live events until May 1.
Online play officially began for the league last weekend. Aside from a few technical difficulties, teams were able to successfully play on regional servers from their homes or training facilities.
Online competition for the Overwatch League will continue on April 4.
