Rocket League Cancels World Championship Event Due to Coronavirus

Psyonix’s major Rocket League event, the Season 9 World Championship, has been cancelled, the [...]

By Tanner Dedmon

Psyonix's major Rocket League event, the Season 9 World Championship, has been cancelled, the company announced on Thursday. This live championship event was scheduled to take place on April 24th and would've run until April 26th in Dallas, Texas, but Psyonix said it decided to cancel the event because of "worldwide health concerns surrounding the developing situation around the Coronavirus." Those who already purchased tickets to attend the event are entitled to full refunds, Psyonix said. The company is looking into options to replace the World Championship event, though a decision on how that'll be handled has not yet been made.

The statement from Psyonix about the event's cancellation acknowledged that the news is frustrating for those involved and those who were planning on attending the event but said that the health and safety of everyone was the priority.

"At Psyonix, we take the safety of our competitive players, fans, and personnel very seriously," Psyonix said. "Due to worldwide health concerns surrounding the developing situation around the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we are cancelling the Rocket League Season 9 World Championship live event as scheduled from April 24-26 in Dallas, Texas. We understand that this is frustrating, but health and safety will always be our top priority."

As for the rest of the Season 9 Rocket League Championship Series that's currently ongoing, Psyonix said the matches will be "played as scheduled to the Regional Championships and Promotion Tournament." The rest of the RLCS and Rival Series will undergo some changes, however. Just as other major esports organizations have decided to change up the way they conduct the rest of their seasons, Psyonix will hold the rest of the season's matches as online-only games. The matches will still be streamed online for people to watch from home, but Rocket League's broadcast talent won't be in-studio during the games.

"As mentioned before, the safety and health of our professional players, personnel, and fans will continue to be our first consideration as we navigate our future plans," Psyonix said. "Thank you for your patience and understanding as we explore the best options moving forward. We are still looking forward to producing the highest level of competitive Rocket League for fans around the world, and hope you join us as we move Season 9 online."

The Rocket League World Championship is the latest of numerous professional and competitive events that have been called off because of fears regarding the spread of the Coronavirus. Some organizations are still planning on moving ahead with their events.

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