CS:GO – Big Tournaments During the COVID-19 Pandemic
For many CS:GO fans, the tournaments that take place throughout the year are the happiest moments. After all, who doesn’t feel good when they get to share the challenging and entertaining moments of these competitions? However, 2020 seems to have no pity for anything – the coronavirus pandemic has spread globally, being a threat to everyone. That being said, a lot of events have been delayed or straight out canceled, to prevent large gatherings and thus the further spread of the virus.
How exactly did this affect the CS: GO tournaments? Let’s find out.
The Conclusion of ESL Pro League Season 11
Earlier in April, the ESL Pro League Season 11 ended, and Sunday Fnatic became the winner of the tournament in Europe. At the same time, Team Liquid was the winner in North America.
However, because of the pandemic, the teams were not able to hold their trophies. After the victory of Fnatic when this League season concluded, for instance, the ESL studio camera had to zoom in onto a jersey of the Fnatic team, featured on a mannequin. The trophy was just next to it. Not to mention, none of the teams will get to have special moments together as champions. There won’t even be the 11th album this year. As such, things cannot be the same this year due to coronavirus.
The Effect of Coronavirus on CS:GO Events
So far, things don’t seem to be close to any change at the moment. COVID-19 is still making victims, and prevention is and should be the priority. This is why so many CS: GO events in eSports have been affected by this. For instance, the ESL Rio Major was postponed. It should have taken place from May to November, but it’s not possible anymore. At the same time, the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice had its fans barred.
As such, it’s most likely that no offline event will see the light of the day, not soon at least. Only online ones will be possible. DreamHack, for instance, announced the Masters’ competition. It is going to take place from May to June online. It will be the last qualifying event for ESL One Cologne. If Cologne happens on time, then everything should go with no issues whatsoever.
Cologne should be taking place in three months from now. But considering Germany confirmed over 128,200 cases not long ago, people may be worrying that things are going to change for the worst, even in the case of an online event.
Three months may be a long time indeed, but it’s not that long when you think that so many countries will be in lockdown for at least a month. Things can change indeed for the event. As of now, though, there has been no announcement from ESL regarding any Cologne alteration.
Luckily, CS: GO can continue even during the pandemic, and this is something that people should be grateful for.
Final Thoughts
After the conclusion of the Pro League season, many CS: GO fans are wondering what they should expect regarding future eSports events for the game. The next major one is Cologne, and until then, the qualifying event will happen online. It’s hard to predict whether there will be any change in the schedule of the event, given coronavirus and the situation surrounding it are quite unpredictable. Hopefully, things will get better and people will be able to enjoy the things they did before the pandemic. Only time will tell.