VCT EMEA Stage 1 postponed due to ongoing technical issues

The final day of VCT EMEA Stage 1 group stage couldn’t be completed as Riot Games was forced to postpone the matches due to the never-ending tech pauses.

The competing teams could only get through one map, and even that took over three hours to complete because of the ongoing technical issues affecting nearly every round.

To compensate for the disappointing experience, Riot has also announced a full refund for all the ticket holders who attended the event on April 25th.

The new schedule for the remaining matches has not been revealed yet, but Riot will share it as soon as it is finalised.

“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to our fans joining us both on-site and online,” Riot said in the official statement.

Before the match was postponed, Team Liquid was in the lead with a score of 1-0 in the series against Karmine Corp. It is unclear whether the game will reset or continue from where it left off.

Multiple professional players, including Nikita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev, Thomas ‘kAdavra’ Johner, and Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo, have already raised concerns about the poor conditions at VCT EMEA. Fans have also expressed frustration, as some flew from other countries to attend VCT EMEA Stage 1.

“Sorry to the fans that came today. I know two of our supporters had come from Japan. Don’t know if anyone else came from far. Would like to make it up to you somehow. I was ready for TH too,” Fnatic’s IGL Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett tweeted, apologizing on Riot’s behalf.

One of the attendees shared that they traveled all the way from Australia to Berlin just to watch Boaster, only for the match to be cancelled.

It’s clear that Riot Games needs to take the time they need to resolve these technical issues as they don’t only compromise the competitive integrity but also ruins the experience for teams and viewers.