League of Legends is just beginning its competitive season for 2020, with both the North American League Championship Series and the European League European Championship starting this weekend. The Chinese League of Legends league, the LPL, got a head start one week ago. However, it now looks like the LPL will have to take an unfortunate break. The league has now confirmed that the LPL's second week is being postponed due to the "health and safety" concerns.
While the announcement is ambiguous, the implication is that the LPL will be paused due to the ongoing Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. According to China's most recent reports on the coronavirus' spread, more than 2,000 confirmed cases have been tracked. Of those 2,000 cases, 56 have died. The outbreak has had confirmed cases in 14 different countries or regions in addition to China since it began, leading to worries of an international epidemic.
For the time being, the LPL has made no announcements as to when play will resume. It's absolutely possible that play will be postponed for several weeks or even months at this point. The spread of the coronavirus has only been growing up until now. It's possible that it will continue to spread for some time. It would likely be in the LPL's best interests to avoid holding events until the virus can be confirmed to be contained, until it's run its course.
The spring 2020 LPL season was originally planned to run for 10 weeks total. The LPL is currently made up of 17 different esports teams, each of which has played between 3 and 6 games through just the first week. As should be clear, the teams all have a lot of games left to play this season. It's possible that the LPL will try and have teams make up for their missed matches, or that they'll cut the season short. It's hard to make predictions at this point.
Everyone involved in the LPL obviously has one priority on-mind and that's keeping everyone healthy. The coronavirus poses a very real threat and while most League of Legends pros are young and healthy, they're also at risk. They often live in complexes with many other people, work in close quarters with many other people, and live in major cities with many other people. Delaying the LPL, or even canceling the season if it comes to that, is the right choice to make. Let's keep the LPL healthy.
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