Box Fight Championship canceled due to Coronavirus concerns

The long awaited Box Fight Championship series, hosted by The Fortnite Guy and Team Kungrarna, is now canceled over Coronavirus

Coronavirus has struck once again, this time hitting the Fortnite Esports scene with a direct hit. The Box Fight Championship, which was slated for March 15 in Luxor’s HyperX Esports Arena, turns into a distant thought as the virus named COVID-19 rapidly spreads - recently landing in the United States

Box Fight Champonship’s Twitter account updated its fans by saying:

“Hey BFC fans, we were so thrilled to be hosting our first live event in Las Vegas, but due to concerns of the coronavirus from Epic Games and our team, we have decided to cancel the live event and do it online. We still plan on hosting live LAN events in the future. More details coming soon about the online event and qualifiers.”

BFC Las Vegas update pic.twitter.com/OETuQpeGss

— Box Fighting Championship (@BoxFightChamp) March 6, 2020

However, BFC’s cancellation of a LAN event is not new to the entire Esports landscape. Rocket League’s RLCS LAN event is being moved to an online interface as all ticket sales are refunded. TwitchCon, which is hosted in Berlin, saw a similar response. BFC’s move is not an offshoot, it’s a trend

Despite the seriousness of the issue, users felt as though TFG and Team Kungarna were using Coronavirus as an “excuse” to cancel the event, a ridiculous thought. An extreme effort and investment was made to prepare for an event of this size, cancelling now is never a good idea (unless your hand was forced on the matter)

When it comes to diseases (and controlling them), the health of your audience is worth more than hosting one live event. I’m also sure that Epic Games wouldn’t want their name labeled over an event that potentially spread the Coronavirus - a factor that I believe pushed BFC to close the doors

The next few weeks/months will be interesting as we see more and more LAN events, concerts, and schools shut down or shift to an online environment where diseases can’t spread. Hopefully Coronavirus passes quickly so less people have to suffer and LAN events can operate once again

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