Cover-Credits:
Velocity Gaming has forfeited in the ongoing Valorant Off-Season tournament: the Penta Pro Series Valorant, without disclosing the reason behind this decision. There is speculation that the organization made this decision due to ping differences against Southeast Asian teams. The organization has faced backlash from the Valorant community and its own fan base as a result.
Velocity Gaming forfeits Penta Pro Series Valorant due to ping issues
Velocity Gaming showed a commendable performance against the South Asian teams in the Play-offs of the Penta Pro Series Valorant. The team defeated Revenant Esports in the finals to win the playoffs. Velocity Gaming, along with Revenant Esports, qualified for the main event, where two Southeast Asian teams were already invited.
Following are the Penta Pro Series Valorant main event teams:
Bleed Esports
BOOM Esports
Velocity Gaming
Revenant Esports
However, the Indian teams demonstrated a mediocre performance in the main event against the Southeast Asia teams, which a few attributed to the difference in ping (latency). The main event matches were being played on the Singapore server, where the Southeast Asian players had a latency of around 10-20 ms and Indian players around 50-70ms.
Bleed Esports responded to the tweet with a humorous comment but later claimed that it “encourages & appreciates clear communication and fair play in all tournaments.”
Adarsh “Eupho” Singh, manager of Velocity Gaming, also commented on this issue and stated, “it was much needed.”
Prior to this decision, Excali penned a lengthy message on his Twitter account explaining “the current situation” of the tournament on 22nd December. He revealed that the tournament organizer (TO), Penta Esports, is making the team play on the Singapore server without a server veto. He explained that The Esports Club introduced server veto, and it allowed all teams from both regions to give their best and play on a fair and neutral ground.
Manoj “Sentinel” Kashyap, owner of Velocity Gaming, also expressed his disappointment in a tweet. He stated that ping is very important for First Person Shooter (FPS) gamers, and TOs should understand that and give a fair fighting chance to the team.
Based on the current points table and Velocity Gaming’s decision to forfeit the tournament, Bleed Esports and Boom Esports will advance to the grand finals of the tournament. The grand finals will take place on 24th December and will feature a prize pool of $27,000 USD.
