Overwatch League Season Start Delayed By Covid-19 Resurgence
The Overwatch League's start is delayed by a resurgence of Covid-19.
Because of "the Covid situation happening in China", the East region will begin its season two weeks later than planned.
On May 20th, it will get underway.
It will impact the Chinese teams Chengdu Hunters, Guangzhou Charge, Hangzhou Spark, and Shanghai Dragons.
And the US teams Los Angeles Valiant, New York Excelsior, and Philadelphia Fusion, and the South Korean team Seoul Dynasty.
The season will begin on May 5th.
We'll be delaying the East's schedule two weeks, until May 20, they said.
So all 21 matches will still be played, but across two weeks, and with both regions's Kickoff Clash tournaments taking place in June.
Before transitioning to online-only play for the remainder of the season, Blizzard began cancelling Overwatch League events in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic.
Given the rapidly changing Covid conditions, we're exploring the best avenues for global competitions this year, with the goal of returning to the LAN events, they said.
So depending on what's possible, safety and fair competition are always going to remain our top priorities as we look to build the most exciting thing we can do, they also added.