What happened at Skyesports Championship 2024? One of the worst Counter-Strike championships in recent years
Esports in Counter-Strike has developed to such a scale that in recent years all tournaments have been held at the same high level in organization and execution. Of course, there are technical difficulties with them, but all equipment tends to break down. Spectators have already become accustomed to the standards of championships, which are almost on par with traditional sports. But this does not always happen.
Almost 10 years have passed since the legendary Gaming Paradise 2015. At the resort championship, PCs first disappeared, which caused the delay of matches to be more than 10 hours, but the adventures of esportsmen in Serbia did not end there; it turned out that the organizers had a debt to the hotel and The players’ passports were taken away. Three members of the Titan roster actually suffered from food poisoning that was provided at the tournament. The championship was eventually completed and the prize money was paid, but it will be remembered in the history of Counter-Strike as the most disastrous event.
After so many years, the organizers of the Skyesports Championship 2024 decided to repeat this success, deciding to hold a LAN for 300 thousand dollars in one of the poorest countries in the world – India. Initially, players were promised the usual conditions, as in all tier-1 tournaments, but from the very beginning something went wrong. In this material we will talk about all the incidents that happened at the Skyesports Championship 2024 on the first day of the championship.
Computers and practice equipment
The adventures of the esports players began even before the start of the first gaming day. When they started the computers in their practice, most of them noticed unactivated Windows, mediocre components, and a bunch of unnecessary games and programs that affect performance in CS2. Likewise, the components themselves were different on all PCs, which also created an imbalance: rivals could have more FPS.
The practice rooms also left much to be desired. The esports players had to play on shabby bamboo tables, and some of them had nails sticking out of them. Skyesports couldn’t even find the same computer chairs; they are different for every player.
Problems with the tournament
However, it is not only the players who find themselves in an unenviable position. For viewers, the situation was no better; the stream could not handle CS2 and there were noticeable drops in FPS to less than 100 frames. The commentators’ microphones can’t handle the screams, and the usual post-round replays don’t exist.
For players on the server there are also problems, not only in practice. A map veto of a major $300,000 tournament takes place over a phone call, and the organizers couldn’t even connect an offline server to the LAN; esports players have to play on a server in Mumbai while on the LAN.
Turning off the lights and internet
Even the first matches did not take place at the Skyesports Championship 2024 as planned. During the games, the lights in the hotel went out; the teams were without electricity for more than two hours. But even when it was possible to restore it, the situation did not improve. Computers and the Internet stopped working. And the organizers said that they did not have enough power to support so many gaming computers. This situation led to the natural cancellation of the first day of play and the postponement of matches, but it didn’t end there.
Final point – BetBoom Team withdraws from Skyesports Championship 2024
Even despite all the terrible problems with the holding of the Skyesports Championship 2024, the players and organizations held out to the last, but the behavior of the organizers still led to a sensational situation at large tournaments. Due to the fact that it was impossible to keep practice for all teams at once, Skyesports began kicking teams out of the training areas and taking out computers without the players’ permission. This was definitely unacceptable, since their personal and Steam account data could be stored there. The BetBoom Team roster did not tolerate this chaos and asked its management to withdraw from the tournament and leave India. The team can be understood, since for participation in the Skyesports Championship 2024, the necessary points are awarded for qualifying for RMR to the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024. In the event of a technical defeat, the team will not lose them, but if it loses to weaker opponents in inappropriate conditions, it may be left without a major, what participation in the Skyesports Championship 2024 is not worth. The organizers did not look for a team to replace BetBoom Team; the tournament will be completed with 11 teams.
Most likely, the scandal with the Skyesports Championship 2024 will end here. The second and third game days proceed without significant delays, and the players do not find any new problems, except for the lack of practice for training. But the disastrous first day still left a huge black spot on the reputation of the organizers and, most likely, the best teams in the world will no longer agree to attend tournaments from Skyesports, as well as events in India.