The first match of VCT Pacific’s superweek, where each team plays twice the number of games as usual, is off to a rough start after technical issues have hit the stage in Seoul.
The Pacific League features the best VALORANT teams across Asia, and all ten squads are in a race for the playoffs as the regular season comes to a close. Unfortunately for Singapore’s Paper Rex and Korea’s Gen.G, their match was anything but ordinary this evening.
The match, a highly competitive contest between two of the strongest teams in the league, was delayed for nearly an hour due to what the English broadcast desk said were “client issues.” Originally scheduled to begin at 6pm KST, the teams finally walked on stage closer to 6:45.
But the technical difficulties didn’t stop there, as viewers would quickly notice several other issues with the in-game lobby.
The familiar observer UI, which features additional information allowing spectators to digest the fast-paced game quickly, was completely absent for the entire first map. Instead, the broadcast looked exactly the same as the UI any player would experience in a competitive VALORANT game. This made the match harder to follow, and everything felt a bit disconnected.
Even the usual face cams, which allow those viewing from home to see the player’s faces while they compete on stage, were missing. The only time the broadcast UI seemed to be functioning correctly was when a replay was shown between rounds.
The English casters addressed the issue, saying the league prioritized allowing the players to proceed with their match over additional technical pauses to sort out the UI.
In addition, fans immediately noticed what looked like a new name on the side of PRX. Their star player Jingg was missing from the lobby, instead replaced by a player by the name of “VCTKRextra002.” The broadcasters soon clarified that this was in fact Jingg, just playing on an alternate account due to previous technical issues.
Twitch chat, as expected, was fired up with witty comments about PRX’s newest player, especially since Jingg was popping off on Raze.
“Wow this new vctextra guy looks solid! Amazing!” Twitch user sirenseath wrote in chat.
Jingg would end up with a 278 average combat score and 21/11 KDA on PRX’s first map, clearly not affected by playing as VCTKRextra002. He went on to win match MVP.
In general, VCT Pacific has had few technical difficulties since the beginning of the regular season, which makes today’s mishaps even more of a hiccup. Hopefully the client and broadcast issues will be sorted out soon for the rest of the league’s superweek.
