The first day of the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 did not go smoothly, as the event faced several major technical issues that forced delays and interruptions. Tournament staff worked to fix the problems, but the start of the event was very messy and frustating for viewers.
Audio Breaks on Twitch and YouTube
Trouble began when StarLadder’s main broadcast cut to a desk segment featuring Freya Spiers, Jacob ‘Pimp’ Winneche, and Alex ‘Mauisnake’ Ellenberg. Very quickly, fans noticed that none of the hosts or analysts could be heard. Only background music was playing, while the talent spoke in silence.
Oddly, the problem did not appear on the Kick stream, which had working audio. Meanwhile, the caster audio from Hugo Byron and Harry ‘JustHarry’ Russell worked fine on Twitch, showing the issue was not intentional.
The audio troubles continued when the match between M80 and B8 started, with casters Chad ‘SPUNJ’ Burchill and Alex ‘Machine’ Richardson also muted.
Streams Go Down Mid Match
Later, the game between FaZe and Lynn Vision was stopped with FaZe leading 3 to 2 on the CT side. The main stream shut down completely. When it returned, viewers saw only a logo instead of the match.
Another match, Fnatic vs Red Canids, had not even begun yet, making the delays even more confusing. The event’s second stream stayed online, but it also switched to a “be right back” screen while problems were being worked on.
By the time this was first reported, the delay had reached about 50 minutes.
After more than one and a half hours, the streams returned. On the broadcast, SPUNJ explained that the venue had suffered “some power issues” that caused many of the day’s problems.
Tension Around Gamdom Logo Incident
These technical issues came after a strange protest inside the venue, apparently sparked by the removal of the Gamdom logo as an in game sticker. Gamdom owner Felix R. denied any involvement and blamed rival company CSGOEmpire for trying to “sabotage” the brand.
CSGOEmpire is known for causing controversy at the PGL Copenhagen Major 2024, when its owner organised a stage rush during the quarter final between Mouz and G2.
Eventually, the audio problems were partly fixed, though the stream sounded echoey at first before everything was fully corrected.
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