Riot cancels early VALORANT gameplay capture event due to coronavirus

Riot Games has canceled a gameplay capture event for VALORANT, its upcoming FPS, due to concerns about the coronavirus.

Esports journalist Rod “Slasher” Breslau initially shared an email today that Riot reportedly sent to pro players, streamers, and content creators to notify them of the cancellation. Riot later confirmed the cancellation of “March’s hands-on gameplay events” in a tweet from the official VALORANT Twitter account.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to cancel our VALORANT gameplay capture events this month in Los Angeles and Barcelona,” the email reads. The cancellation was caused by “unforeseen circumstances surrounding COVID-19 (coronavirus).”

The email also says that the members of the VALORANT team “are working hard on our side to put some finishing touches on a digital solution which will let you get your hands on the game from the comfort of your home setups.”

Although the email doesn’t specify an exact date for the event, Slasher previously tweeted that Riot was hosting an event with pro gamers and streamers to capture footage of VALORANT. The goal was reportedly to “shoot promotional footage” and “possibly to promote the beta,” he said.

The VALORANT gameplay capture event is the latest in a series of events affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Organizers postponed the Game Developers Conference (GDC) due to health concerns. China’s League of Legends Pro League (LPL) will see matches hosted online after an interruption and Polish authorities forced CS:GO’s IEM Katowice to be played without an audience due to concerns about the coronavirus.