McDonald’s has confirmed its Monopoly giveaway won’t be returning this year.

Fans of the popular promotion will now have to wait until 2021 before it is introduced again.

Why has it been cancelled?

McDonald’s Monopoly was due to launch shortly before all 1,350 branches were closed on March 23, as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Initially, the fast food chain planned to push back the start date of the annual game until later in the year.

But, in an announcement on Wednesday, July 1, McDonald’s said it had decided to postpone the game until 2021, marking the first time it hasn’t run since it launched in the UK in 2005.

In a statement, McDonald’s said: “To enable safe working and social distancing inside our restaurants and to minimise the pressure on our employees, we have decided to cancel this year’s Monopoly VIP campaign.

“It creates a great deal of excitement inside our restaurants and relies heavily on menu items we cannot safely reintroduce yet.

“Rest assured, we are already planning for Monopoly 2021 and hope to be able to bring this popular promotion back next Spring.”

What is McDonald’s Monopoly?

McDonald’s Monopoly works in a similar way to the classic board game, allowing customers to collect game pieces on qualifying McDonald’s items.

Each piece represents a tile on the board and when a set has been collected, customers can then claim a prize.

Winnings include a range of items, from free Big Mac burgers and apple pies, to more extravagant prizes like cars, iPads, mobile phones and holidays.

There are also instant win stickers which can be redeemed straight away, although these are typically for food items.

McDonald's had not yet confirmed which prizes were lined up for its 2020 giveaway.