UPDATE: It doesn’t seem like things are going to get any better for NA LCQ for Valorant Champions as Riot have decided to suspend the remainder of NA LCQ as criticism of the competition has ramped up due to a pandora’s box of problems that caused issues across the event, affecting player performance and making it difficult for teams to reliably compete.

With Riot suspending day 2 of Valorant’s NA LCQ, many speculated whether the event would simply be canceled as Riot attempted to address the growing issues plaguing the event. The mishandling of the event led to pros taking to Twitter to address Riot’s behavior or to criticize the event.

Now, it seems as though this may be the case as Riot has announced they are suspending the remainder of Valorant NA LCQ as they transition the event online. In a tweet posted to the official Valorant Champions Tour NA Twitter account, Riot announced that they would be transitioning NA LCQ to an online event for the sake of player and staff safety.

With the grand finals slated for broadcast in movie theaters across the U.S., NA LCQ’s matches being delayed does not bode well for whatever contract Riot signed with partner Iconic Events, an events distribution company that brings live events to movie theaters across the U.S.

Neither Riot nor Iconic Events have commented on whether Valorant NA LCQ will still be broadcasted to movie theaters in accordance with the date announced by both Riot and Iconic Events. The last news entry on Iconic Events website was posted on September 30, announcing their partnership with Riot to bring Valorant NA LCQ to select theaters.

As of this writing, Riot has not posted an amended schedule that accounts for the two days of delays. So far, the remaining two matches in the upper bracket between FaZe Clan and Rise, as well as Cloud9 Blue versus Version 1, have yet to be played. Hopefully, these delays will not result in a format change in order to make up for lost time.