EA announced on its official website on Friday that all e-sports activities will be suspended until the new crown virus epidemic has eased globally.
Affected esports events include the Apex Legends Global Series, the EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series, the FIFA Online 4 Live Event and the Madden NFL 20 Championship Series, and all third-party events licensed by EA.
EA states that its top priority is to protect the health and life of contestants, employees, partners and communities. With the assessment of the global epidemic and the guidance of health officials around the world, EA will use this time to determine the next step Plan to advance all EA esports games and live broadcasts online.
Blizzard has cancelled all March and April events in the Overwatch League and closed offices in Irvine and Austin.
For security reasons, EA previously closed its international offices in Seoul, Milan and other regions, and now "strongly recommends" that all its employees in North America, Europe and Australia work from home until April 1.
Here is the full announcement:
This is an unprecedented time. With so many changes happening around the world to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, we are now announcing that we're suspending all live events for EA's competitive gaming series, including the Apex Legends™ Global Series, EA SPORTS™ FIFA 20 Global Series, FIFA Online 4 Live Events and Madden NFL 20 Championship Series. This includes EA-operated events as well as third-party events run under license from EA. Additionally, this includes all competitive gaming content except for broadcasts that can be individually produced remotely. Online events, where participants and staff are remote and separated will continue. This suspension of events and broadcasts will start today, March 13th, and will be in effect until the global coronavirus situation improves.
Our priority is protecting our competitors, our employees, our partner's employees and our communities. As we continue to monitor the situation around the coronavirus and receive updated guidance from health officials around the world, we will use this time to determine next steps for moving forward with all of EA's Competitive Gaming live events and online broadcasts.
Thank you for understanding. Please be safe and be well. We look forward to returning to our events and broadcasts when the time is right.
