The eSports competition is the latest to fall victim to COVID-19
For the sake of the people in the world, more major eSports events are being either canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus. This year will not see another edition of the Intel World Open (IWO), as it has been postponed until 2021 because of the pandemic. This is not the first major event in Tokyo that will not be happening; the 2020 Summer Olympics are also postponed until next year as it was announced a few weeks ago, so it was just a matter of time before the IWO did the same.
“Due to the evolving global situation around COVID-19 (coronavirus) and the postponement of the Olympic Games, the Intel World Open, and the planned May 2 online qualifiers, have been postponed until next year. Though we were excited to witness the best Street Fighter 5 and Rocket League players, we must focus on the health and safety of the community first,” said Intel in its official press release regarding the postponement. “We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as quickly as we can. While we will have to make adjustments to ensure everyone’s safety, we are committed to bringing Intel World Open to life.”
Both Rocket League and Street Fighter V were going to be massive events this year. The qualifiers were scheduled to begin on May 2. The headliner of the competition was going to be Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, the prize pool was up to $500,000 but evenly split with the SFV and Rocket League. Now with this change in the calendar, the National and Regional qualifier events will be pushed back until next May, with the Live Qualifier in Tokyo to be placed accordingly with the modified Olympic schedule.
