Riot has announced that they will be delaying an entire week’s worth of Valorant Champions Tour games due to the Ukraine invasion by Russia.
Riot Games has announced that they are postponing this week's VCT Challengers EMEA matches. This is being done both out of respect for and to focus on the safety of players, casters, and more affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"After careful consideration, we have decided to postpone VCT EMEA Week 3 games," the official EMEA Valorant Esports Twitter account said. "Our community’s welfare is integral to us and at this time, our number one priority is to support the players, casters, staff and fans affected by the escalating crisis in Ukraine."
When will make-up games be played for VCT EMEA Challengers?
Riot Games has not yet announced a timeline for makeup games for week three of EMEA Challengers.
"We will provide an update on the new schedule as soon as we can. In the meantime, please keep an eye on our social channels for further updates.
This week's matches had included Guild Esports vs Supermassive Blaze, Acend vs Fnatic, LDNU Esports vs FPX Esports, G2 Esports vs BBL Esports, Na'vi vs Gambit, and BIG vs Team Liquid.
It's possible that the matchup between the Russian team Gambit and the Ukrainian organization Na'vi in week three's lineup could have affected this decision. Some Russian players are facing abuse on social media and streams due to the situation, which is far beyond their fault.
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What were the implications of week 3's VCT EMEA Challengers matches?
This week's matches were critical in determining standings and the fate of several teams in the competition at large. Supermassive and BBL both stand at a 0-2 record, and a loss in week three would put them in poor position to move on. Team Liquid, BIG, and LDN UTD are also in a dangerous position, with a 1-1 tie going 4 ways in Group A at present.
Only the top 3 teams from each group will move on to the Playoffs. The teams that finish in 4th and 5th in their groups will not move on but will be invited back to Valorant Champions Tour Challengers next cycle. Meanwhile, the bottom team of each group will have to play through the open qualifiers again.
Due to the change in schedule, the matchups that teams were preparing for maybe moot for now. It's unclear at present if these matches will be played at the end of the Group Stage, or if Week 3's matches will be played before the rest of the scheduled matches.
Esports.gg has reached out to Riot Games for comment on the ordering of matches and will update if we hear back.
Will NA Valorant esports be delayed as well?
At present, there's been no comment from the North American side of Valorant esports about delays to matches. While its possible that Riot reflects the same schedule as EMEA, there is less of a chance of that happening in this case. It looks, at present, to be business as usual on this side of the Atlantic.
Week three matches in North America include Cloud9 vs Evil Geniuses, Pittsburgh Knights vs Rise Nation, Sentinels vs Optic Gaming, The Guard vs XSET, LG vs 100 Thieves, and Version 1 vs NRG Esports. These matches will run from February 25 through 27.
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