VALORANT Champions 2023 goes crowdless amidst hurricane concerns in Los Angeles

Where recent history saw venue worries and player concerns due to COVID, a different kind of obstruction has led to Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium needing to be empty for tomorrow’s loser bracket semi-finals: the weather.

Due to Hurricane Hilary’s path up the southwest coast of the U.S., Riot Games has announced the two lower bracket games on Aug. 20 will be played without a crowd for the safety of the fans. The hurricane has already hit areas of Mexico leading to severe flooding, and the threat of tough weather affecting the venue has led to a short pause for fans attending Champions 2023 in person.

Riot specifically stated in a late Aug. 19 tweet that “in anticipation of tomorrow’s severe weather in Los Angeles, we will not be facilitating a live audience at The Shrine.” They have only announced the removal of the crowd for Aug. 20 matches, with refunds for all impacted ticket holders.

The matches will still be played at this stage, with the venue expecting to run the games on time so fans can follow along from home. As these games are lower bracket matches with these teams’ tournament lives at stake, two teams will be eliminated from the event without a live audience—something that players and fans alike haven’t seen since VCT Masters Reykjavík in 2022.

Related: COVID curse strikes again at VALORANT Champions, sending one DRX player to quarantine

Thankfully, this is only temporary as long as the weather permits. Due to the schedule, the final day of games at The Shrine falls on Aug. 20, with each game afterward hosted at the KIA Forum, so fans who paid for tickets across the event won’t be going to the same venue. Plus, with a three-day break between venues, all fingers are crossed that the weather improves ahead of the move to the Forum.

Today’s matches see DRX take on Fnatic and LOUD play EDward Gaming for elimination. The pressure remains high as no team wants to end their season without gracing a live audience, but without the crowd to distract, all four teams will be as focused as ever. Here’s hoping the losers don’t have to fly home tonight.