ALGS Major 1 postponed due to Coronavirus concerns

In January, ATK Arena‘s Apex Legends team qualified for the first Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) Major. The tournament was supposed to take place from 13 to 15 March with $500,000 in prize money up for grabs. The South African players travelled to Texas for the tournament. However, on Saturday, 7 March 2020, Electronic Arts postponed the ALGS Major 1 due to Coronavirus concerns.

ALGS Major 1 postponed

Electronic Arts announced the postponement of the ALGS’s first Major due to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impact on communities across the globe. The publisher will provide a new event date and updated Apex Legends Global Series schedule in the near future.

EA explained that:

“For the health and safety of our players, we have decided to postpone the Apex Legends Global Series Major 1. Online Tournament 2 scheduled for March 21 and 23 will still take place.”

This isn’t the first time the Coronavirus has impacted esports and it likely won’t be the last, with multiple tournaments and events being cancelled worldwide. EA postponed the ALGS Major 1 at short notice.

What about our local players?

ATK_Nialling, ATK_WhySo and ATK_DaStwika are currently in Texas after starting their travels on 5 March, two days before the announcement by EA postponing the ALGS Major 1. ATK Arena has, therefore, changed the recently announced ATK Apex Legends LAN and Viewing Party to just a LAN and shortened their event.

ATK Arena explains on the event’s Quicket page that:

“The ALGS has been postponed due to fears about Coronavirus. We have shortened our event to only a LAN as there won’t be any live esports to spectate from Arlington Stadium.”

At the time of writing, it is unclear when the local players will return to South Africa. However, there does seem to be a bit of good news. We all know travelling to the US and the accommodation is very expensive but EA is reportedly working on reimbursement for flights and accommodation for the players that travelled to compete at the ALGS Major 1.

This is according to TSM Deigo, who explained that:

“Spoke with someone from EA and they are currently working on reimbursement for Air Travel and Hotels for all players that were supposed to participate in the tournament. This is super awesome news.”

Our thoughts go out to the South African players that are going through this ordeal. We wish them all the best of luck and safe travels back to South Africa.

Header image via Apex Legends