StarLadder Apologises for Power Outage Chaos on Day 1 of Budapest CS2 Major
The opening day of the StarLadder Counter-Strike 2 Budapest Major 2025 was plagued by severe streaming disruptions, including audio failures, production glitches, and a significant power outage in the broadcast studio that caused a nearly 2 hour blackout.
Issues kicked off during the pre show with visible analysts but only ambient music for many viewers, persisting into matches like M80 vs. B8 where caster audio dropped out repeatedly. The Kick stream notably avoided some problems.
Audio on Twitch vs audio on Kick for the StarLadder 2025 Budapest Major..
Absolutely shameless pic.twitter.com/aAAdxVoQy9
— FURIOUSSS (@FURIOUSSScs) November 24, 2025
The big issue occurred during FaZe Clan’s match against Lynn Vision, when streams across platforms went dark for about 2 hours starting at 16:15 due to a power outage, showing only a “be right back” message and delaying subsequent games. Additional woes included unclear caster audio, duplicate sounds, and muted commentary, causing widespread fan frustration.
On the contrary, the org Team Spirit found the issues amusing with a tweet shared on X:
We’ve contacted the StarLadder Budapest Major audio guy. He’d like to express how honored he is to be the first deaf audio engineer at a CS2 tournament in history. @StarLadder_CS are the real ones for providing this amazing opportunity!
— Team Spirit CS2 (@Team__Spirit) November 24, 2025
StarLadder’s Official Response
StarLadder posted an apology on social media: “We know we fell short today, and it impacted your experience. We’re working hard on fixing the stream, audio, and stability issues. Sorry for letting you down – we’re making things right and improving for the next days.”
Hi guys. We know we fell short today, and it impacted your experience. We’re working hard on fixing the stream, audio and stability issues.
Sorry for letting you down – we’re making things right and improving for the next days#StarLadder #BudapestMajor pic.twitter.com/hXDmu0ybPV
— StarLadder CS2 (@StarLadder_CS) November 25, 2025
As the Major, the premier CS2 event continues through December 14, organizers face pressure to deliver smooth production. Amid the turmoil, Day 1 highlights included FaZe’s dominant 13-5 win over Lynn Vision and Fnatic’s grind of an overtime victory (16-14) against RED Canids after recouping from multiple deficits.
Since: October 29, 2025
