StarLadder Budapest Major hit by stream and production issues

Fariha Bhatti Published 25/11/2025

StarLadder has issued an apology for the production issues at the ongoing Budapest Major 2025, acknowledging the problems after a full day of criticism from livid CS2 fans and bettors.

StarLadder Budapest Major 2025’s first day will likely go down as the most talked-about opening day of any CS2 Major. The conversation wasn’t due to any shocking upsets, but was rather attributable to the relentless tech and production issues that plagued the event stream across multiple platforms. As soon as these streams went live, the problems started stacking up fast.

Now the organizer has dropped a short apology for the problems, along with a promise that future streams will finally run smoothly.

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StarLadder responds after Budapest Major stream and production problems

The streams for the StarLadder Budapest Major saw muted audio and extended delays by the event’s second match, setting the tone for the rest of a day so filled with production problems that event organizer StarLadder was forced to publicly respond.

The broadcast kicked off with glaring audio issues. During desk segments, viewers heard background music but not the analysts’ or commentators’ voices. Oddly, this only happened on Twitch and YouTube streams at first, while the Kick stream had normal audio. That discrepancy sparked speculation, with some wondering aloud if StarLadder’s gambling partnerships had played a role in the Kick stream being the superior option given that Twitch and YouTube enforce stricter rules around betting and gambling content.

But that theory collapsed quickly once new technical issues began appearing across all platforms, confirming that the stream issues were simply widespread production faults taking place a the StarLadder Budapest Major. When an M80 vs B8 match began, commentary disappeared yet again as the game audio completely drowned out Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill and Alex “Machine” Richardson, who were on the call. While that match ended with M80 pushing B8 into the lower bracket, the issues were far from over.

FaZe Clan vs Lynn Vision had barely begun when the broadcast abruptly paused for 90 minutes. No explanation was given, leaving viewers completely in the dark. The downtime quickly turned into meme fuel, with fans and even teams joining in.

FaZe Clan on X

A break that long should have ironed out the problems, but when the stream finally returned, Fnatic vs Red Canids was inexplicably being shown on both the A and B streams, hiding the FaZe match entirely and drawing the ire of the team’s fans who have big expectations for the team in this opening stage, as our StarLadder Budapest Major betting guide highlighted. This was eventually corrected, but fans were already fed up with the long pauses and the litany of issues that defined the Major’s opening day.

Event organizer StarLadder later issued a brief apology and promised to “make things right” at the Budapest Major moving forward, referring the repeated stream and production issues that plagued the event’s start.

Starladder apology. Credit: Starladder on X

Stage 1 has now moved into round 3, and the round 3 broadcast has been comparatively smooth so far. Fans are hoping the rest of the Major follows the same track of smooth sailing, with bettors eager to watch the game’s they’ve placed a stake on rather than having to deal with production issues and reading up on results afterwards. And with some great promo deals available for the Major, each round is bringing that many more matches that are sure to compel CS2 fans to get in on the action.

Featured image credit: Valve

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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