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Tokyo TEKKEN Masters Tournament postponed over coronavirus concerns

Coronavirus claims another gaming event casualty, as the Tokyo TEKKEN Masters Tournament is the latest to be postponed over public health and safety concerns.

Brittany Vincent

March 2, 2020 2:45 PM

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) strikes again, postponing yet another video game-related gathering that fans were hyped to attend.

Bandai Namco announced that its upcoming Tokyo TEKKEN Masters Tournament has officially been postponed to a "later date in 2020." The exact date has yet to be divulged at this time.

"Stemming from a position of caution and in an effort to safeguard the health and safety of competitors, event staff, and live tournament audience members from possible exposure to Coronavirus (COVID-19); BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. has made the difficult decision to postpone its Tokyo TEKKEN Masters Tournament to a later date in 2020," the company said in a statement.

"Due to the highly dynamic nature surrounding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak which has had global health implications, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. will take every possible consideration into account prior to rescheduling the Tokyo TEKKEN Masters Tournament. Our goal and focus is to provide safe and healthy conditions for all of our tournaments to take place," the statement concluded.

This tournament is just the first in a long line of video game gatherings that have been postponed or outright canceled. Just a few days ago, San Francisco's yearly Game Developers Conference, a major annual gaming event, was postponed due to concerns over the spread of coronavirus. It was originally scheduled for March 16 through March 20. There is no new date set for the event, but the organizers did note that there is a "GDC event" that will be hosted later this summer. 

Hopefully with all these precautions being taken to help quell the advance of coronavirus and keep it from claiming additional lives, we'll see some sort of downturn in the infection rate with this deadly virus. We can all wait a little longer to get our game on if it means more lives saved, right?

Brittany Vincent

Senior Editor

Fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games, Brittany is a Senior Editor at Shacknews who thrives on surrealism and ultraviolence. Follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake and check out her portfolio for more. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched!