Coronavirus cancellations, an Apex surprise, and more of the week's news
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This week, several esports events in China have been cancelled due to the new coronavirus going round, Steam done an oopsie, and Apex Legends murdered its next character. Read on for more of the week's PC gaming goings-on in our News Digest, and do also check out the Weekly Updates Update for the week's big patches.
Several Chinese esports events cancelled over new coronavirus concerns
Blizzard have cancelled Overwatch League matches in China in February and March while a League Of Legends tournament has been cancelled, and these aren't the only ones. 290 people have now died to the virus.
Surprise! The next Apex Legend isn't Forge
As leaks had suggested, Forge was just a ruse and the new lad is Revenant. A shame to have surprises side widely spoiled.
Valve made a Dota esports documentary
"I don't normally care about sports drama, but this is very well put together," our Matt ruled.
Sega Europe using new recyclable packaging
It's mostly recycled paper and cardboard, though some parts will need specialist facilities to be recycled.
Wizards Of The Coast hire more ex-BioWare folks for a sci-fi game
They say the debut game from Archetype Entertainment "will send players on a story-driven epic where choices they make will have real consequences on how their story unfolds.
Freebie corner: Farming Simulator 19 on Epic
You've seen the memes but have you sown the greens?
Steam servers went down for a few hours
Store pages, friend lists, and some multiplayer bits were all unavailable for three-odd hours on Thursday. Oh huh, relying on one company's infrastructure for a load of your games can be a problem.
The next Sims could have multiplayer-y bits
EA are vague about this "notion of social interactions and competition" but it's something they're planning, at least. Been a while.
E3 will try really hard not to leak the media's personal information
After accidentally revealing phone numbers, addresses, and more info for thousands of members of the media (including some of our own), E3's organisers say they probably won't do it again this year.
Torchlight Frontiers is now Torchlight 3
Frontiers was a free-to-play doodad which deviated from the past formula, and alpha testing feedback was not positive. They devs say "we decided it was time to take the game back to its roots and model it after the classic Torchlight games that ARPG fans have come to love."
