CBLOL studio destroyed, league postponed until end of February

2020 has already been a disastrous year for esports, with a number of tournaments and events being delayed or cancelled due to unforeseen events. While most of those issues have stemmed has stemmed from the coronavirus, it’s the weather that is hitting South American League of Legends.  

The 2020 CBLOL Split 1 has been postponed due to the floods and heavy rain that have hammered São Paulo, Brazil over recent days.

Equipment and infrastructure of the CBLOL studio were destroyed

The highest level of competitive League of Legends in Brazil happens in the Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends league. CBLOL’s studios suffered damage from the flooding, which resulted in a weeklong delay in action. If all goes as planned, CBLOL will be returning on February 29.

Riot Games’ head of Brazilian esports, Carlos “Cacophonie” Antunes, shared an official statement on the delay, saying the studio has been significantly damaged.

“The impact of the rains on the west side of São Paulo where the CBLoL studios are located was very large, causing floods and other problems throughout the region,” Cacophonie said. “Our studio was severely affected, with damage to equipment and infrastructure. We are launching several recovery actions.”

The seventh and eighth rounds of the 2020 CBLOL, which were scheduled to happen on the previous weekend, have been postponed. The league organizer is already hard at work with rebuilding the studio, getting new equipment to replace what was destroyed. In the meantime, Riot is working on preparing a temporary arena to host the league until the official studio is ready to welcome its players and audience back.

This is far from the first regional League of Legends league to get delayed or have other issues this season. The 2020 LPL Spring Split has been delayed at least until March due to the coronavirus outburst in China. The LCK isn’t taking any chances with the virus either, hosting the first games of the season in an empty arena to ensure the virus isn’t spread across fans and pro players.