Due to concerns over coronavirus, NetherRealm Studios has announced that while competition and reveals will happen, the public will be barred from attending the event.
As the coronavirus continues to be a major concern among esports and other events, NetherRealm is the latest to take precautions regarding the Final Kombat event this weekend. Though the competition and reveals coming up will still happen, live attendance of the event and the Last Chance Qualifier on Saturday have been canceled. It will be viewable through livestream only.
NetherRealm Studios made their announcement regarding Final Kombat via Twitter on March 6, 2020. Though Final Kombat staff and the 16 players competing in Final Kombat on Sunday will still be able to enter, no live audience will be allowed into the event. NetherRealm intends to refund those who purchased a ticket to attend the event in person. Just as well, the other reveals during Final Kombat, including the first gameplay reveal of Spawn for Mortal Kombat 11 and the red band trailer for upcoming animated film Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, will be livestreamed during the event’s regularly scheduled time..
— NetherRealm Studios (@NetherRealm) March 6, 2020
The announcement is unfortunately close to Final Kombat for anyone that was hoping to attend the event, but thankfully NetherRealm is honoring refunds for direct attendance and the show will go on. This is somewhat similar to the situation that occurred with IEM Katowice in which the ESL and Intel were forced to also bar public attendance of the show. Meanwhile, Namco Bandai was forced to postpone the TEKKEN World Tour and Soul Calibur World Tour and cancel both tours’ first stops. The Rocket League Championship Series World Championship was also recently canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus.
At the very least, the event will still happen for Final Kombat and we can look forward to seeing Spawn in action, as well some great Mortal Kombat 11 competitive play. Nonethless, it makes sense to continue to take precautions and care in the wake of the coronavirus and ensure the safety of staff and competitors at the event. Be sure to check out our livestream guide of Final Kombat to catch the action this weekend if you want to see it go down live.
