2020 Fortnite World Cup Canceled Because of Coronavirus Pandemic

The 2020 Fortnite World Cup is the latest sporting event scrapped due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Fortnite Competitive made the official announcement Thursday, adding that all remaining competitions scheduled for 2020 would move to an online-only format. 

Last year's World Cup at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York sold out all 23,700 seats and was streamed by more than 2.3 million viewers, per Variety. Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf, 16, took home the top prize in 2019, earning $3 million for his victory. 

There will be no title defense in 2020, and the possibility of a return in 2021 is too far down the line to forecast. 

The governing body said it would like to host the World Cup next year, but without knowing when a return to large-scale events will be possible, it is holding off on making any declarations. 

Fortnite Competitive will try to supplement the loss of the World Cup with other online tournaments in the meantime. 

The game remains one of the most popular by both players and viewers with live streams of matches flooding services like Twitch and Mixer. 

With the World Cup canceled, the game is working on more formats for players around the world to show off their talents and move up different ranking boards. 

Still, it won't have the draw of the title event, which in 2019 featured a prize pool of $30 million.