ESL One Los Angeles 2020 Dota 2 Major postponed

If you’ve been waiting in anticipation for the next Dota 2 Major of the current DPC season to get underway this weekend, then we’ve got some bad news for you. We won’t be watching some top tier Dota 2 starting on 15 March, when ESL One Los Angeles 2020 Major was supposed to kick off. Unfortunately, the tournament has been postponed due to Coronavirus concerns.

ESL One Los Angeles 2020 Major postponed

There are rumours floating around that the tournament has been cancelled completely, but that isn’t the case. ESL is working closely with Valve to determine a new location and time for the Major. The postponement news came shortly after US President, Donald Trump, ordered a travel suspension that would limit the “entry of most foreign nationals who have been in certain European countries at any point during the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival to the United States.”

ESL One Los Angeles was supposed to kick off this Sunday, 15 March with the opening Group Stage matches. The first match in Group B was supposed to be an EG versus OG slugfest. The main event was supposed to take place from 20 to 22 March at the Shrine Auditorium. That’s why we won’t blame you if you’ve already set time aside and marked your calendar with a permanent marker.

ESL explained the postponement of ESL One Los Angeles 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. 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 of the people who make these incredible events possible. We’re currently working with the venue and ticketing provider to refund tickets as soon as possible. If you purchased a ticket, you should be receiving email communication in the coming days.”

At the time of writing, no further details about a new date and local have been given. This does, however, throw a wrench in the DPC season. ESL Los Angeles 2020 Dota 2 Major is a very big deal. There’s 15,000 DPC points up for grabs, after all.

For those who’ve been living under a rock, the coronavirus can cause an acute respiratory disease called COVID-19. The latest World Health Organization situation report puts the total confirmed cases at 125,000. The confirmed deaths from COVID-19 is 4613, at the time of writing. The WHO officially declared this a “controlled pandemic”. 

This will likely not be the last time that an esports event is affected by the Coronavirus. However, it is better to keep players, fans and everyone else safe. We can always just play some Dota 2 online with friends over the weekend.

Header image via ESL