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ESL One Dota 2 Los Angeles Major postponed over coronavirus concerns

Another casualty of the COVID-19 coronavirus looks to be the ESL One Dota 2 Los Angeles Major, which is now being postponed to an unknown date.

Ozzie Mejia

March 11, 2020 11:30 PM

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The number of events postponed or canceled over COVID-19 coronavirus continues to rise with no end in sight. Even into the night, major events are being thrown in flux over this global pandemic. The latest one is the ESL One Los Angeles Dota 2 Major, which ESL officially postponed late Wednesday night.

Update on #ESLOne Los Angeles: pic.twitter.com/Nilxseh0Zq

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) March 12, 2020

"In light of recent travel restrictions and the evolving COVID-19 situation, ESL is postponing the ESL One Los Angeles 2020 Dota 2 Major," reads the ESL Dota 2 statement on Twitter. "While we were very excited to bring the first ever Dota 2 Major to Los Angeles, the safety and well-being of our players, attendees, coaches, partners, and ESL staff must come first. We are working closely with Valve to determine a new time and location for the Major. We are deeply disappointed, but believe this outcome is in the best interest of all the people who make these incredible events possible."

While ESL might have hoped to carry on, one major factor has provided the final blow to the tournament. It was Wednesday's address by President Trump, who declared that all travel from 26 European countries would be suspended for 30 days starting on Friday. This basically kills not only this event, but also any esports event hoping to bring in international talent from Europe.

The ESL One Los Angeles Dota 2 Major was set to take place next weekend, running form March 20-22 from the Shrine Auditorium. Those who have purchased tickets will receive information about refunds in the days ahead. The event was scheduled to be a major step towards the Dota 2 International. The International is still tentatively set to be held in Stockholm, Sweden, but given the rapid spread of COVID-19, the outlook for this event is also growing grimmer by the day.

As with everything else related to the coronavirus in the video game world, Shacknews will monitor this situation closely and provide any updates as they come in.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?