Shanghai Dragons move to Korea amid the coronavirus threat

With the coronavirus spreading worry all throughout the esports industry, it seems that another Overwatch League team is moving temporarily. This time, the Shanghai Dragons are taking precautions and moving from their home base to Korea for the foreseeable future.

League-wide coronavirus worry

For those who don’t know why this is an issue, this coronavirus has specifically gotten bigger in China, causing multiple issues. Already, League of Legends has stopped a week of their competitive series in China due to the outbreak, and that was only the beginning. Just recently, another Overwatch League team (the Guangzhou Charge) also announced their temporary move to South Korea. Much like the Charge did earlier this week, the Dragons put an official post on Twitter explaining the situation.

Update regarding the safety of our team and our plan moving forward. pic.twitter.com/VQRv7FlAuW

— Shanghai Dragons (@ShanghaiDragons) January 29, 2020

As mentioned in the post, the length of this stay in South Korea is indefinite. The Shanghai Dragons aren’t sure whether this stay will affect their upcoming homestand in February, but they will keep updates as soon as they get them. This will probably lead to the other Chinese teams following suit, with Shanghai only being the second out of four Chinese teams in the league moving due to the coronavirus.

What does this mean for the league?

Unfortunately, it seems most fans in China looking to watch their teams play live won’t be able to. At least, not in China, as it should have been. Nobody could have predicted the coronavirus. But, the teams are looking to keep their players safe and ready for the upcoming season. As mentioned in our previous post, players have sounded off on this scenario. The overall consensus was being both worried and disappointed about the eventual outcome.

While it isn’t confirmed yet, it does seem like all the Chinese teams will be away for a short time. This will most likely end the hopes of the Chinese homestand.