The entire world is talking about a single topic nowadays and it seems impossible to escape it. The coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way humanity is living on the planet and has greatly changed a wide variety of industries, including esports and entertainment. Some sites, such as SBR have been gathering the necessary information to keep fans up to date with the latest esports picks and tips in these trying times. Although the situation is very serious, it is advised you keep calm and enjoy the quarantine best you can. Esports are a great way to enjoy your free time as many competitions are still ongoing as opposed to traditional sports which have seen leagues canceled all over the globe.
Unfortunately for fans, publishers and professional players, esports may still be vulnerable to the pandemic if the situation does not change soon. While it’s true that most esports leagues are continuing, it is not without complications. League of Legends is one of the most active esports titles there is and they are going through a change that may affect the future of their leagues forever. As opposed to other titles, League of Legends features regional leagues, some of which are franchised just like the NBA or NFL. These leagues are played out weekly in regional studios that are open to fans. Leagues like Latin America’s Liga Latinoamérica even started their open-to-public format this year and yet they have all been forced to close in order to keep their players, fans and staff safe from the virus.
Some might say that it doesn’t matter that leagues are being moved to a remote format but in reality, players have shown us that there’s another side of the coin. While leagues such as the North American League of Legends Championship or the League of Legends European Championship have decided to continue in an online format, questions are rising about their future. For example, what would happen if players start to get sick. League of Legends is a team-based game and a team’s style of gameplay depends heavily on the 5 members that make up that team, meaning that if a player were to be subbed out, the team would need time to adapt and doing this in the middle of the league would heavily affect the team’s performance.
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Another question that has come up is what happens if players want to go home and be with their families. In the case of the LCS, many players are actually from abroad and even if they have a US residency, they call another country home and their families live in those countries, most of which are located in Europe. If these players decide they want to go home, it would be very easy for them to be trapped and not able to come back given the flight restrictions being placed across the globe. The same goes for players from Canada which have been urged to come back home by their government in an attempt to have all Canadians on national soil and be able to take care of them during the pandemic.
Other titles aren’t having such a hard time and such is the case of CS:GO. Luckily, the CS:GO scene still features a vast majority of their tournaments in an online mode and both players, partners and organizers are used to working remotely and delivering a high-quality product to the fans. ESL has been running it’s European Pro League Season 11 stream without many issues and it will run the North American version as well. ESL has lots of experience hosting online competitions and we believe the same will happen for DOTA 2 competitions despite major events being postponed or canceled. It is games that feature leagues or lan events all the time, like fighting games, that will be hit the hardest during the coronavirus pandemic. We all hope that we can go back to normal soon but as the virus spreads, such does fear and panic. Please do remember to consult the CDC on how to take care of yourself and your loved ones, stay calm, and enjoy esports during the quarantine. We are sure that we will get through this together!
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