The coronavirus has led to a number of big drawbacks across numerous industries and Esports is included, as PUBG MOBILE Pro and World Leagues will now be postponed.
The outbreak has caused numerous conventions of all sizes to shut down this year. Mobile World Congress, GDC, Google I/O, and even E3 have all been cancelled. So it isn’t too surprising that Esports competitions would look to make some changes too.
Especially considering how popular Esports has become which makes the competitions very populated. While some events weren’t cancelled, vendors have pulled out. Which led to a smaller number of attendees and likely a less exciting affair.
Coronavirus is only causing PUBG MOBILE Leagues to postpone till later in the year
For those either competing in or hoping to attend as a spectator, the Pro League and World League competitions are only being postponed till later in the year.
This means they will still happen, but not until a while after the concerns have decreased some. Which is more than likely going to be after some of the recommendations to self-quarantine have been removed.
The good news is that the competitions haven’t been cancelled. So players will still get to compete against each other for some pretty big prizes and rewards, which includes a total monetary collective of $5 million USD.
Tencent sees this as an opportunity to mobilize Esports
Esports events are big deals these days. The spectacle of watching professional players compete for big prize money has become a huge phenomenon.
But outbreaks like the coronavirus mean that PUBG MOBILE and other games have to look out for the safety of the players, staff, and fans. Tencent doesn’t see this as a total loss though. In fact it sees this as an opportunity.
An opportunity to make Esports more mobile. Tencent doesn’t get into specifics, but this probably means that it’s working on ways for competitions to work over the web. Without the need to physically be in an arena with other players.
There is a lot that would need to go into this of course. And better anti-cheat systems would more than likely be part of that. At an arena competition everything is controlled. Players are livestreamed. Staff are keeping a close eye on things.
Which no doubt leads to less of an opportunity for anyone to cheat. There’s also the hurdle of having servers powerful enough and dedicated to just Esports. In the end it’s not necessarily a simple undertaking. But it is something that is being worked on.