Bandai Namco will make changes to the schedule for the SoulCalibur World Tour in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Bandai Namco similarly announced a delay for the Tekken World Tour 2020 on March 6.
This will affect three upcoming tournaments, but the company has also made it clear that more cancelations and rescheduling could happen if the virus continues to spread further.
With these changes, the Norcal Regionals will no longer be a TWT event, though the tournament will go on as planned on April 20. This means both Capcom and Bandai Namco have pulled their pro circuit support for the tournament, but the games will still be featured in the lineup but they will not have points for the World Tour Leaderboards.
The same rules apply to Final Round on March 20, as it will no longer be an SCWT tournament, but players will still be able to compete in SoulCalibur VI at the event.
Bandai Namco is also rescheduling The Mixup, which was originally supposed to begin on April 18. Because it is run by the company and would have mainly featured only its games, this won’t affect many other professional circuits, but it is another factor to watch as we get deeper into the competitive season.
“This decision has been made in response to international travel restrictions and the possible contagion factor for Coronavirus (COVID-19) at large public gatherings.” Bandai Namco said in a press release. “The health and safety of tournament competitors, staff, and audience members is our top priority and this delay in holding official qualifying rounds for both esports tours will hopefully provide an opportunity for official tournament series qualifiers to take place later in the year.”
TWT won’t begin until Tekken Round Pro 9 on April 25. The SCWT has moved completely out of April and will now kick off with Combo Breaker on May 22.
