Riot Games suspended the LCS on March 13, citing the “health and safety of players, fans, and everyone who makes the LCS possible” as the reason for the decision. But it appears that the league may return soon online.
Riot is working with team owners to bring the LCS back “as early as next weekend” through online games, according to esports journalist Rod “Slasher” Breslau. The games would reportedly be played at the LCS team facilities with Riot potentially sending referees to maintain fair competition.
“One concern amongst Riot officials and LCS owners is the current viability of safely sending referees in-person to LCS team houses for games, which LPL has been running similarly these last few weeks, and how this impacts competitive integrity,” Slasher said.
This would follow a similar system to the LPL, League of Legends’ Chinese pro league. The LPL resumed on March 9 after months of delays due to COVID-19.
As the coronavirus concerns continue to grow across the world, esports events have been forced to postpone, delay, or simply cancel. The LCK and LEC have also been delayed amid the pandemic. The Game Developers Conference was postponed after big companies, like Epic Games and Microsoft, pulled out. And many other events have been affected by the outbreak in varying ways.
