‘THE INTERNATIONAL’ TOURNAMENT REFUSES TO GO ONLINE

The International, one of the world’s biggest eSports tournaments, has been postponed. The postponement will run until 2021, apparently. – Do we even need to say WHY at this point? CoronaBS baby, HELL YEAH!

The event, due to take place in Stockholm this upcoming August, was held last year in Shanghai, in their Mercedes Benz Arena with a capacity for 18,000, and with prize awards in the $35m bracket. It is a no-nonsense tournament, where team competitions generate some serious revenue. And it has refused to go online. Wink ** wink

Sure, the event could be moved online, and the lockdown has sometimes been seen as a good thing for esports, since there is more time for gaming and all, but here’s the thing: a lot of the revenue for these games comes from enormous live events like The International, like ticket sales and such. Plus, some people argue that you play different when in person than online, so this could be another one of the reasons the tournament refuses to move online. Plus, since the event is seen as top-notch in eSports, maybe the organizers sense it may take away from its reputation and credibility… fancy that.

Either way, smaller events have reaped benefits and wandered into the mainstream, helped by the lockdown. With the situation as it is, the obvious choice is to try to turn things, but the organizers have stood their ground and shared no more info. They will be sharing it “when we have it” but that’s just about as much as we got out of them. #FacePalm

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