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Esports events are getting cancelled or modified to adhere to online-only rules all over the industry. Valve's MOBA, Dota 2, is the last one in the line of competitive games that got hit.
The official announcement stated that the current state and trajectory of the Covid-19 pandemic poses too big of a health risk to competitors, staff and fans. Due to these developments, Valve cancelled 4th minor and major tournaments of the DPC season.
Cancelling all the esports events in the future may or may not happen as the company noted that it will keep following the situation in order to "decide how to approach the final major and minor of the season as the weeks progress".
Coronavirus outbreak has severely impacted the entire gaming industry, with several major conventions having been postponed or cancelled. Generally, any possible option where crowds could happen is being taken out of the equation but some esports leagues have managed to find their ways around the problem.
League of Legends' Chinese LPL resumed on 9 March 2020 but in the online format in order to prevent amassing people in one place.
Such an approach poses different risks though as it's harder to observe whether everyone is playing fair and it remains to be seen whether Valve will opt to go down this road in the future.
