Genesis 8 has been postponed. 

After the Smash World  Tour saw a COVID outbreak amongst attendees, the Super Smash Bros. community has been speculating the future of in-person events. After getting COVID himself, Hungrybox even tweeted that another WiFi era may be on its way. 

After urging attendees and competitors to wear masks and get vaccinated, Genesis 8 has decided to postpone the big tournament due to ongoing health concerns. The new date is April 15-17th. 

"We know this feels abrupt and very close to the event date, but the conditions that necessitated this decision were just as abrupt," the TO wrote in an official statement. "We have taken everything into consideration and made what we believe is the best decision possible for the safety of our attendees, staff, and the quality of the event itself given the circumstances and the timeline." 

The staff behind Genesis 8 explained that they have been "constantly reevaluating" the situation week by week to see if it would be safe to host such a populated tournament. They were confident it was possible until now. While there were going to be extra safety precautions, like onsite testing for staff and sanitizing products all over the venue, the TOs felt it just wouldn't be safe enough. 

"Besides safety, we’d also be risking the event not being able to actually function," Genesis 8 staff added. "With our current staff and volunteer numbers, we’re unsure that we would even be able to finish the tournament on time, which would cost us in overages that we simply cannot afford, not to mention the enormous detriment to player experience. Several key staff members have dropped out over entirely understandable safety concerns that we really cannot solve."

Half of the vendors had also withdrawn and the TOs get refund requests from attendees every day. Keeping the event in place would have forced Genesis to "shut our doors for good," meaning no more Genesis events ever again. Luckily, they were able to move the event date without losing a lot of money, although they did ask for the Smash community to support the situation by buying merch. 

Many players were not only saddened about the situation but frustrated with the fact that they already purchased flights. Genesis 8 provided a link for people who had questions about registration, hotel, and travel refunds: https://genesisgaming.gg/faq. 

Most unfortunate of all, EE's dodgeball tournament is also postponed. 

Smash players will now have time to brush up on their tech skills — as well as their dodgeball moves — for the new April date at the San Jose Convention Center.