Valorant Pros Demand Action as EMEA Broadcast Tech Issues Cause Chaos in League

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Due to technical interruptions that rendered the games nearly impossible to play, the live stream for Valorant’s top league in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) was halted during the Team Liquid versus Karmine Corp match on the third day of Week 5.

The game lasted longer than 3 hours, but Riot ultimately halted it. A significant portion of this duration was spent on technical breaks rather than playing the game itself.

Due to the need for redoing several game rounds to ensure fairness among teams, broadcasters had to improvise and fill lengthy gaps of silence on air. The players expressed their annoyance openly. This series of events prompted Riot Games to officially apologize to fans and delay the day’s matches temporarily, pending further adjustments.

Nevertheless, the professionals weren’t passive about this issue. Notable figures such as TenZ and Derke voiced their opinions, criticizing Riot Games and advocating for changes that would enhance the competitive atmosphere.

Riot ends broadcast after disastrous VCT EMEA match

Initially, there were technical issues that arose three times during round 1, leading to pauses. The situation remained challenging, as frequent technological disruptions persisted throughout the game, ultimately causing it to be canceled.

During the game, even seasoned players couldn’t help but poke fun at Riot. Team Liquid’s nAts commented “Won the first map, but the next one in a week,” immediately after taking the lead 1-0. Ironically, he was right as they had to delay the broadcast, which meant that the following match would indeed be next week.

Patrick “Patitek” Liu, another member of Team Liquid, casually expressed his frustration by saying, “This is such a ridiculous situation”, urging Riot Games to “improve their performance”.

As a member of Karmine Corp, I’ve got to admit, yesterday’s game against TL was a bit of a mess. Regardless of what we did or tried, it just wasn’t our day. Sometimes, certain situations are beyond our control. We kept our mental strength up as best as we could, but unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.

Luckily for Karmine Corp, the initial match outcome is being completely overturned, with games being delayed instead. This gives them an opportunity to compete against Team Liquid in a more favorable setting. Nevertheless, Vitality’s player Derke openly criticized Riot Games, arguing that their infrastructure significantly contributes to issues like this occurring.

As a passionate follower, I’ve found myself grappling with problems that seem to trace back to the inception of franchising. Initially, I voiced my worries and was advised to exercise patience. However, we’re now entering our third year, and it appears that things haven’t shown significant improvement as I had hoped. According to Derke, this is his sentiment too.

To put it straightforwardly, the equipment we’re using isn’t optimal. We’ve been expressing concerns about the monitors for quite some time now, and I must admit, I’m confused because each time we discuss it, we receive a different explanation.

The computer setup isn’t ideal, with adjustments being made frequently, and most technical breaks are caused by severe game lag. Even when IT addresses these issues, we continue playing without any resolutions. This week, we were informed that we would play online on a stage to address performance problems and tech pauses. However, this change won’t make a difference if the root cause – the hardware – isn’t addressed. Both LAN users and those online are still encountering stutters.

Additionally, he argued that EMEA players are facing significant challenges and are often utilizing PCs optimized for League of Legends instead of Valorant. Since League of Legends is less resource-intensive than Valorant, this disparity exists. He contends that Riot Games has yet to provide them with adequate equipment to ensure a smooth gaming experience, which is crucial for maintaining competitive fairness. Technical pauses won’t address hardware problems of this magnitude.

For each break, for every year, we’ve voiced our worries, always with the optimism of seeing advancement. I sincerely hope that, now that everyone is informed about these problems, genuine progress can finally take place,” Derke summarized.

TenZ too joined the conversation, expressing that technical problems such as these significantly contributed to his decision to step down from professional gaming.

It’s really frustrating to reach Tier 1 only to find that top-tier players and teams often don’t get optimal conditions to excel. What makes it even more disheartening is that this problem has been persisting since the launch of the VCT circuit. It’s unacceptable that, after so much time and numerous player complaints, we’re still grappling with the same issues. TenZ expressed this sentiment.

One major influencing factor behind my retirement was undeniably the EMEA league issues I’ve been aware of for some time. The concept of franchising and organizing LAN matches seems futile when they are played on online servers. It’s hard to believe, and Riot really needs to improve in this area.

On that particular day, Riot Games expressed their apologies for the technical problems experienced and compensated ticket holders attending in person with a complete refund. They also announced they would reschedule the matches. Yet, it remains unclear what specific actions Riot intends to take to address the harsh criticism leveled against them by some of their prominent professional players.

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2025-04-25 23:19