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Epic won't hold in-person Fortnite events in 2021 due to coronavirus

Valve ditches CS:GO Major, too.

Epic has cancelled all Fortnite in-person events in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Epic said it had no intention of holding in-person events during 2021, including a Fortnite World Cup. It will however run online competitions next year.

"Our intent is to eventually hold global in-person tournaments again, but our priority for any such event is the health and safety of our players and staff," Epic said in a blog post.

"With so much still unknown about what is practical and safe, we do not plan to hold in-person events in 2021, including a Fortnite World Cup. We will continue to provide online competitions throughout 2021 with the hopes that physical events, in some form, can return at some point in the future."

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Meanwhile, Valve has scrapped plans to host a 2021 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive spring Major tournament.

According to HLTV.org, while Valve did not point to the pandemic as the reason for the decision, it's fair to assume it had a lot to do with it. In September, Valve announced it would postpone Majors until "Regional Major Ranking (RMR) LAN events are safe to hold around the world". The next CS:GO Major is set for Autumn 2021, but is subject to change.

Coronavirus infections and hospitalisations hit record-highs in the US this week, with the number of people in hospital passing 100,000 for the first time. 2637 deaths were recorded in the US on 4th December alone.

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