MGA MSI Overwatch event conclusively cancelled

The organizer vows to compensate the teams, most of which never even stepped on the stage.

The MSI Masters Gaming Arena was one of the highly anticipated Overwatch LANs in December last year. With top teams such as Ninjas in Pyjamas, Fnatic and KongDoo Panthera in attendance on top of the $75,000 prize pool and the relatively low amount of offline OW events, fans’ hopes were high for London event.

Overnight, MGA became the most ill-starred Overwatch tournament of the year. Sponsor’s insistence that the matches be played on MSI laptops caused massive delays on day one, which eventually led to the entire event being delayed and not starting until day two. After another set of delays, Rise Nation and NiP got to play exactly one game before internet issues ultimately brought a premature end to the tournament. By the second day of MGA, not a single match had been completed.

With the participating teams having obligations elsewhere, organizers could not afford further delays and had to call it temporary quits on the endeavor. Responsible for the execution of the tournament, Gfinity issued a statement saying that “to ensure the integrity of and commitment to the tournament, the grand finals will be rescheduled to a future date in 2017.”

According to an updated statement by MSI, the disastrous event will not see light in the new year after all. The company ensures that ticket holders will receive a refund and players will be compensated, though no details on how and when have been given in the official press release.
 

Due to the unfortunate and unprecedented internet connection issues that impacted the Overwatch MGA 2016 Championship, a number of scheduled matches were not played. As a result, it was impossible to complete the tournament in its prescribed format in the available time, and the Overwatch MGA 2016 Championship Grand Final event unfortunately had to be canceled.

This decision was taken to ensure the integrity of the competition, and reflects our commitment to the tournament. All parties involved share the disappointment of the fans, Overwatch community, teams, players, media, and sponsors.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused and are committed to ensuring that—like previous MGA tournaments—our future events are completed professionally. All players who participated in the Overwatch MGA 2016 Championship Grand Final will be compensated, and all attendees who purchased tickets to the event can receive a full refund. We sincerely apologize for the unpleasant experience and for the resulting cancellation of this event.”