In recent days, LCK Spring 2024 has been experiencing some extremely frustrating issues related to the network connection. Starting from the match between Dplus KIA and DRX, recently, T1 – FearX has become the “victim” once again. In both matches, the scenario was the same: as teams were playing smoothly, a connection issue occurred, leading the organizers to decide to delay, and the issues repeated themselves until they ultimately had to change the format of the match (or the remaining matches, if any).
When issues arise, the first ones affected are the players, the audience, and the tournament operators. Furthermore, for many regions like VCS or smaller regions that have schedules overlapping with LCK, they will also be affected as audiences may find it hard to focus on matches in these smaller tournaments. Not to mention, the time zone differences will impact the timing for audiences in various regions. For example, the DK – DRX match forced viewers to wait for up to 7 hours, and by the time the issues were resolved, the day was almost over.
However, if T1 is the “victim,” the situation has drawn even more attention. Nevertheless, in the post-match statements, Faker still made remarks in support of the LCK organizers: “In my case, I’ve played many matches that were delayed like this. So I think this is quite normal and a good experience. I just feel embarrassed that the fans couldn’t experience the match in the best way. But anyway, the good thing is that everyone tried to keep the match going.”
According to the announcement from the LCK organizers, the tournament was attacked by a DDoS attack and they are currently seeking solutions. However, matches on February 29 – March 1 (local time) will be switched to a format of reporting developments and score updates. Clearly, this DDoS incident is extremely serious and cannot be resolved overnight.
However, it seems that the LCK organizers and Riot need to take more decisive and effective actions. The LCK Spring 2024 has just begun its second phase, and no one can predict if these incidents will occur again, but the damage caused by these issues is extremely unpredictable.