Coronavirus has been responsible for quite a bit of disruption in the gaming world – as well, of course, as a great deal of tragedy for humanity as a whole. Speaking to the gaming world, though, we’ve already seen it lead to the rescheduling, cancelation, and/or postponement on a variety of different events and leagues in the gaming world. Some notable “victims” include League of Legend’s LCL and LPL in China, the Nintendo Switch port of The Outer Worlds, and DOTA 2’s APAC Final.
Now, it seems that Blizzard has an event being affected as well. They announced today that they’ll be relocating the Hearthstone Masters Tour from its original venue in Indonesia to Los Angeles, California.
“After careful consideration of the ongoing coronavirus, we have decided to relocate Masters Tour Indonesia to Los Angeles,” they stated in their announcement. “We decided to make this move to protect the health and safety of our players, staff, and everyone involved with the Masters Tour. We’re sad we won’t be able to hold the event as originally planned, but the safety of all participants is our top priority.”
Blizzard goes on to discuss the new location, NGE Studios in Los Angeles, on March 20-22nd. Over 300 competitors from around the globe are invited to participate to compete for their portion of a quarter-million USD prize pool.
The 4th and final chapter of Galakrond's Awakening is now live! Find out if the League of Explorers have what it takes to keep E.V.I.L. at bay in this thrilling conclusion to the saga!
📖https://t.co/19OyJORaUX pic.twitter.com/vx0ZdK0aQb
— Hearthstone (@PlayHearthstone) February 11, 2020
“Knowing that adjusting travel plans can oftentimes be difficult, we’ll be providing up to $250 USD to all qualified competitors who need to rebook their travel to Los Angeles if they’ve already secured flights to Indonesia,” Blizzard also claimed. Competitors seeking to claim this $250 USD will need to present documentation proving their rebooking to do so.
It’s certainly unfortunate, and it’s a real shame for Indonesia-native fans of Hearthstone (as well as any competitors that may be on the list) that now may not be able to go. It’s about 8,300 miles to travel from Indonesia to Los Angeles, and there’s a very real chance that some may not be able to make it with such travel included.
Still, the alternative is putting thousands of individuals, from players and staff to your average fan, at risk of catching a virus that has, as of writing this, claimed over 2,000 lives worldwide. Granted, all but six of these lives were in mainland China, but there’s no reason not to take every precaution possible to halt the spread of the virus where we can.
For anyone who can still make it out to the Hearthstone Masters Tour, see you in Los Angeles!
