Riot Games has admitted it made the wrong call during 100 Thieves’ match against FUT Esports at VALORANT Champions.
During a live round, FUT’s xeus had a mouse problem. His weapon didn’t fire as expected. FUT didn’t get the round back. Riot has now reviewed what happened and changed its mind about the ruling, but not about the result.
“We have concluded that a round rollback should have been allowed,” Riot said. “We take responsibility for that error.”
The match result stands. 100 Thieves keep the win.
What went wrong
The problem hit xeus in the middle of a round. It came after FUT won the pistol round and 100 Thieves made a force buy. In VALORANT, that timing matters. Every round changes how much money each team has to spend later. One lost round early can affect the next several rounds.
Officials didn’t allow a rollback at the time. A rollback restores an earlier game state so a round can be played again. It’s different from giving a team the round or replaying the whole map.
Riot’s later review found that FUT should have gotten that replay.
The desk problem
The FUT incident wasn’t the only issue. Players have had wider trouble with wireless mice on stage.
Riot linked those problems to the “custom metal desks we fabricated” for the event. Most wireless gaming mice talk to a small receiver over the 2.4 GHz band. Metal can block or bounce that signal, which makes the explanation believable. Riot hasn’t confirmed that the desks caused xeus’s specific malfunction.
For now, Riot says “we recommend players switch to wired mouse.” That’s a recommendation, not a confirmed rule. Many wireless mice can run on a cable, so players may not need to swap to a different model. Some still dislike cable drag.
Riot is aiming for a permanent fix within “the next few days” of its statement. It hasn’t said what that fix will be. New desks, changed desks, and moved receivers are all possible.
