NA Valorant LCQ LAN uses remote servers as COVID-19 precaution, Riot explains

Despite the North American Valorant Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) event being a LAN tournament, Riot Games has revealed THAT teams are playing on remote servers as a precautionary measure against COVID-19.

In an official statement communicated via the official Valorant Esports Twitter account, Riot Games confirmed suspicions of teams connecting to remote online servers to play their matches, meaning they'd have ping even if they were in an offline environment. 

Riot explains why NA Valorant LCQ LAN used remote servers

"Given strict COVID protocols for in-person events, we felt it was in the best interest of all to shift to a remote server, should any players need to be quarantined. This would allow for teams to continue to compete and not bring in a sub or be forced to forfeit," the statement read.

Day 1 of the Valorant NA LCQ was plagued with server issues, with perhaps the most egregious example occurring during the Luminosity Gaming vs XSET matchup. When LG rep Aproto was in a position to clutch a 1v2, the server lagged out and his team lost the round.

Other pros, such as 100 Thieves' Ethan "Ethan" Arnold, complained about the excessive rubber banding and lag spikes on social media.

"I've never seen this in my life. Our team was rubber-banding and stuttering the whole game playing on a NorCal server. First day things," Ethan said.

Playing LAN using online servers… I’ve never seen this in my life.

Our team was rubber-banding and stuttering the whole game playing on a NorCal server.

First day things 🙃

— 100T Ethan (@ethanarnold) October 12, 2021

It remains to be seen whether Riot Games will maintain the remote servers or whether they will try and switch to a traditional LAN setting, although admittedly, this does seem rather arduous at this stage.

The Valorant LCQ is the final stop before the 2021 Valorant Champions Tour.

• Read more: Valorant LCQ observers slammed after missing the action
  

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Featured image courtesy of Riot Games.