It was a great day to be Tundra Esports as the team lifted Aegis of Champions after a 3-0 sweep versus Secret, but fans have seen better days as the production value dropped on the final day of The International 2022.
During the final match between Secret and Tundra, the mainstream on Twitch started showing red flags. From frame skipping to voices lagging, it was clear that a disaster was brewing in the background.
The signs lead to Twitch stream going completely offline at 20-minutes into the third match in the finals, right after Tundra was smoked for an important maneuver around the map. After a cliffhanger of a cut, Twitch viewers migrated to YouTube, but another surprise was waiting for them there.
Shortly after most Twitch viewers showed up to the YouTube stream, the broadcast froze and was rewound by five minutes. Confused by the situation, fans suddenly found themselves spectating the parts of the match they had already seen moments ago.
While viewers were enduring a second shock at the YouTube stream, the Twitch broadcast came back to life, and it kicked off from the 18-minute mark, two minutes before it cut off. The production staff was nice enough to make sure no one missed out on the action in between, but it also meant that the official TI broadcast now had an additional close to 10 minutes of delay.
Any fans lurking the social media while watching the series were now in danger of spoilers as live attendees could share updates at any time. However, this didn’t end up as a significant issue since Tundra was already in the lead and had the momentum to wrap up the series that would bring them the Aegis.
Despite the unacceptable production flaws on the final day, Dota fans still witnessed some of the most emotional and thrilling matches on the main stage, marking the end of the 2021-2022 competitive Dota 2 year. Fans have been loud and clear about their expectations regarding the game, and TI as Valve reaffirmed its commitment to the scene, hopefully increasing the level of effort going into the tournament in the upcoming year.
