Valorant fans furious over hours-long VCT EMEA delay
Hara Amorós / Riot Games / LVP / lagValorant fans went in on Riot Games and the VCT EMEA league after the third day of playoff stage matches was delayed due to a technical issue that paused the competition’s start for over two hours.
Valorant fans were met with a massive delay in matches on May 25 as the VCT EMEA league suffered from technical issues. The first match of the day, a playoff series between Team Vitality and FUT Esports with major international tournament qualification implications, did not begin until over two hours after its slated start time.
The match was scheduled to start at 11 a.m. EST, and did not kick off until about 1:20 p.m. – and another series, between NAVI and Giants Gaming, is slated to start after the first match concludes.
“We’re currently experiencing technical issues which have caused a long delay to today’s show. The team is working to find a solution to bring you today’s VCT EMEA matches as soon as possible. We apologize to our fans for any inconvenience this might have caused,” a league statement said.
Fans took to Twitter to voice their displeasure over the delay and respond to the VCT EMEA statement.
Fans slam Riot Games, VCT EMEA league for match delay
Fans of the European league have dealt with technical issues sporadically this season and during the playoff stage.
“Crazy that this consistently happens to EMEA, don’t see half as many in Americas. Really hard to stay interested when games are so consistently delayed, I mean last night LOUD won their series before Team Liquid finished vs. NAVI,” one Twitter user said.
Team Liquid and NAVI dealt with a shorter technical issue in their playoff matchup on May 24.
“Is it even an EMEA matchup when there’s no big tech issue?” Another said.
After the match started, Riot Games issued an apology for the delay and explained that the VCT EMEA local servers cut out before the series began. To work around the issue, the day’s playoff matches will be played online but still in the VCT EMEA studio.
“We apologize again for any inconvenience caused and hope you enjoy today’s action wherever you are in the world,” the statement said.
The head of Valorant esports in EMEA, Daniel Ringland, also issued an apology to fans after the delay.
“Real talk – everyone on the team is disappointed by this. This simply wasn’t good enough, especially in playoffs week,” Ringland said.
Both matches today will decide which teams VCT EMEA will send to Masters Tokyo and Valorant Champions 2023, and which teams will have to wait for the Last Chance Qualifier for a shot at international competition.