The Pacific Championship Series, which was announced officially in December 2019 and set to start on Feb. 8, is postponed until further notice due to coronavirus outbreak risks. This announcement makes the PCS the second region after the LPL to postpone League matches for the Spring Split Season. Following the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in Wuhan, China, the disease has since spread to other countries and regions.
The Pacific Championship Series is a merger of the LMS and LST. Both of these regions have countries near China.
PCS official announcement
The PCS team announced the delay via a Facebook post, saying:
In light of the novel coronavirus outbreak and its development in our region, we have decided to postpone the start of the PCS in the interest of the safety and well-being of our players and teams. Amongst other considerations, several members of the operational staff, as well as team(s) staff have been affected by travel restrictions that have been implemented to mitigate the spread of the virus.
PCS goes on to apologize for the delay, and they promise to share updates on the new schedule as soon as they can.
The coronavirus outbreak has claimed hundreds of lives, with CNN reporting that there are now 6,000 cases worldwide, with 91 confirmed cases outside of China. Over 60 million Chinese residents face lockdown in their cities, as no one is allowed to leave, and some PCS officials may be in those cities. Hong Kong and Taiwan both have confirmed cases as well, and they each have teams participating in the PCS.
Already, the LCK has taken some measures to contain this virus, and foreign LPL officials are taking preventive measures to ensure that they are not infected. The disease outbreak has severely impacted global League of Legends esports. However, Riot has put player and staff safety first, which is undoubtedly more important.
