League of Legends Champions Korea was forced to resort to a delayed broadcast following several DDoS-related technical interruptions during games.
South Korea’s LCK is the most decorated regional tournament in the League of Legends pro scene. As the home base of dominant teams and World Tournament winners such as T1 and DRX, the South Korean pro league attracts dedicated viewers from all around the globe.
However, the action-packed matches have been recently plagued with lengthy technical pauses. While many LoL fans await the newest strats and team plays in LCK, the round-robin leg of the tournament experienced time-outs for as long as six hours.
After LCK’s further investigation, officials determined that the game-breaking ping spikes and delays were due to DDoS attacks. Upon confirmation, the organization announced that all forthcoming games will be prerecorded instead of the usual live streams.
DDoS attacks behind LCK’s multiple technical breaks
LCK has reported “chronic ping issues” since the February 25 game between DRX and DK. Players reported ping spikes amid the match, resulting in extended delays and multiple tech pauses.
While most fans expected the situation to be resolved after the 40-minute break, the issues persisted until the match between T1 and FearX. The constant technical time-outs led to the dismay of players, organizations, and fans who had tickets to witness the live show.
Even prior to the LCK announcement, many fans speculated DDoS attacks were the culprit behind the ping spikes. Meanwhile, some players and streamers have been experiencing trouble connecting to League of Legends servers since early February.
Some South Korean LoL streamers even went as far as to use an account on foreign servers to play solo queue.
Dedicated League of Legends players theorize that a data breach from the transition of Riot ID and League of Legends client is behind the DDoS attacks. However, Riot Games and LCK are yet to confirm the motives and root causes behind the persistent hacking.
As LCK postponed the live telecast and a live audience for the games, fans who bought tickets are entitled to refunds per the organization’s announcement. LCK and Riot Games hope to end the DDoS attacks soon and resume the much-awaited tournament before the high-stakes play-offs stage.