Fortnite and Dota 2 cancel major esports events
Flossed cause.
While real-world sports have been turning to video games for online tournaments, it seems some esports events have not been so lucky - as both the Fortnite World Cup and Dota 2's The International have been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Fortnite World Cup, which last year pulled in over 2.3m viewers to make it the most-watched competitive gaming event of all time (excluding China), will not take place in 2020. While all other Fortnite physical esports events will take place online, the World Cup could not take place due to the "limitations of cross region online competition".
"We don't know when a return to large, global, in-person events will be practical, but we're hopeful to be able to put on some form of Fortnite World Cup in 2021," said Epic via the Fortnite Competitive Twitter account.
In the meantime, Cash Cups (competitive matches with cash prizes) are set to continue, as will the Fortnite Champion Series - albeit with some iterations on formats "to improve player experiences". Official broadcasts are also set to return, providing players with updates on competitive Fortnite starting this Saturday at 6pm UK time. And third-party events haven't been given the boot - so long as they're online-only.
Dota 2's The International, another vast esports event with the largest top prize players can earn from esports, has also been indefinitely delayed. The Dota team explained it doesn't have the confidence to provide new dates at this time due to the "highly volatile landscape for local gathering restrictions", but it will likely take place in 2021. The Dota 2 Pro Circuit is still set to continue this autumn, however, with some restructuring to make things work.