French game developer Ubisoft has postponed the Six Invitational 2021 after the French Prime Minister announced that France’s borders will be closed to all citizens outside of Europe.
The developer aimed to commence Raindow Six Siege’s event live in Paris on February 9th.
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The Six Invitational usually takes place in Montreal but in a bid to host a live event, it was moved to Paris. As such, the competition was going to be the first offline Rainbow Six event since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Via a statement, Ubisoft commented: “We have no choice but to postpone the Six Invitational 2021 to a later date. While we are obviously disappointed that the Six Invitational will no longer go ahead this month as planned, our focus is now on re-evaluating the situation and looking for alternative options.
“We are working with and listening to the organisations to find the best possible solutions.”
A new date for the event is expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.
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While many esports events have managed to transition into an online format, the international nature of the Six Invitational means cross-region matches are unable to take place due to server locations. The developer also added that the event couldn’t take place online.
Ubisoft’s statement continued: “To ensure the utmost competitive integrity, such a competition can only happen if we gather all participating teams in the same physical location.”
At the time of writing, (February 4th, 2021) it is currently unclear as to what impact the postponement will have on the start of the 2021 season.
Esports Insider says: While it is a shame to see the postponement of the Six Invitational, the health and safety of players and staff has to be the priority. The evolving situation with the pandemic will make it difficult for Ubisoft to find a suitable date for the tournament to take place, so it will be interesting to see what effect this has on the rest of the season.