Blizzard is supposed to hold a massive Overwatch Nintendo Switch launch party event at the Nintendo World Store in New York City, US, on Wednesday, 16 October 2019. However, it seems that the developer/publisher has suddenly cancelled the upcoming event via a tweet earlier today.

Please be aware that the previously announced Overwatch launch event scheduled for Wednesday, 10/16 at NintendoNYC has been cancelled by Blizzard. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

— Nintendo NY (@NintendoNYC) October 15, 2019

While no official reason was ultimately provided by Blizzard, it’s not difficult to discern why. The company is currently still under fire and suffering backlash for the recent incident where Hearthstone pro player Blitzchung received a suspension and stripped of his prize money after being caught making pro-Hong Kong statements during a Blizzard-hosted tournament stream.

Blizzard has since reduced Blitzchung’s punishment by halving the suspension period to six months and restoring the prize money to him. However, there was no coming back from Blizzard’s earlier actions, as many have gone onto the Internet and the public to protest against the company for what they’ve done.

Blizzcon is taking place from 2 to 3 November 2019, which is less than three weeks from now. It remains to be seen how all of this will affect the company’s biggest and usually, most celebrated, event of the year.

Overwatch is slated to release for the Nintendo Switch today on 15 October 2019.