Each year at the Japan Amusement Expo (JAEPO), KONAMI holds the finals for their Konami Arcade Championship. However, with the impact caused by COVID-19, many events, including The 10th KONAMI Arcade Championship, are canceled or postponed. Thankfully, KONAMI announced that the KONAMI Arcade Championship will be postponed rather than canceled, so there is the possibility that the contestants might live their dream this year.
The KONAMI Arcade Championship is one of the things that I looked forward to each year, but, at least, this is just a small bump in the road for something that could have been much more devastating. The 10th KONAMI Arcade Championship was slated to be held between 6 and 14 March 2021.
KONAMI had the following to say about the postponement:
Thank you for your continued patronage of our products and services.
The following measures will be taken for ‘The 10th KONAMI Arcade Championship’ upon the lifting of the state of emergency declaration.
The 10th KAC Entry and Qualifying Rounds will be extended as soon as the state of emergency is lifted nationwide. We will also extend the period for the release of the assigned songs as well.
The Finals scheduled for March 6 (Sat.), 7 (Sun.), 13 (Sat.), and 14 (Sun.) will be postponed. We will inform you of the details of the dates and times as soon as possible.
In addition, The 9th KONAMI Arcade Championship Final Tournament for the remaining titles will be canceled due to the difficulty of postponing the event.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and ask for your understanding in this matter.
It definitely is unfortunate that the event is being postponed, but I understand the gravity surrounding the situation. KONAMI made the right call with this one.