Sad news for shooter fans and fighting game aficionados. This year’s celebration of id Software gaming and 2D fighter tournament competitions in the US of A are cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While QuakeCon 2020 isn’t scheduled until August, Bethesda said that the outbreak means too many “uncertainties”. Official statement from Bethesda & id Software below.

“With all of the logistical challenges and uncertainties we currently face due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s QuakeCon. The health and safety of our employees, volunteers, vendors, sponsors, and players will always be our top priority, and in these times it felt wrong to be talking about a gathering when gathering in the last thing any of us should be doing right now.

While we don’t know what the state of the pandemic will be this August, we do know it will not be possible to complete the work and planning with partners, vendors, volunteers, and others that is required to make QuakeCon a success.”

An update on QuakeCon 2020: pic.twitter.com/1FYUauI7PY

— QuakeCon (@QuakeCon) March 31, 2020

Don’t let the 1st April date fool you; the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t leaving room for fake news on the date.

On the fighting game side, the annual Combo Breaker 2020 will take place on 22 to 24th May, which is a few months from now. The cancellation isn’t surprising, unfortunately, as the uncertainty of whether the outbreak will be contained by then is still looming in the air, so to speak.

The organizers are offering full refunds for registration fees and hotel deposits. Not only that, but Combo Breaker will also be partnering with videographer Esteban Martinez of Hold Back to Block, streaming outfit Team Spooky, and commentator Stephen “Sajam” Lyon to create a special fighting game retrospective on the Combo Breaker tournament’s history.

Official statement from Combo Breaker below (via Kotaku):

“Combo Breaker made its cancellation decision after reviewing current government recommendations and consulting with our venue representatives. It became apparent that a convention of our expected size, with its historically strong international attendance, could not meet attendee expectations safely in the coming months.

While some of our planning decisions could be impacted by how well our team recovers from this year’s cancellation, we are currently committed to realizing the event next year in full. Our team is hopeful that the limited apparel run dropped today assists us with the 2020 development recoup necessary to feed that ambition.”