Riot Links VALORANT Champions Mouse Issues to Desk Material and Replaces Desk Tops

Riot said xeus's round-two firing issue against 100 Thieves should have led to a rollback, but the 2-0 result will stand after the desk tops were replaced.

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VALORANT Champions player seated at a gaming station onstage beneath arena lights

Riot Games has replaced the desk tops at VALORANT Champions Shanghai after linking repeated wireless mouse interference to the material used for the event’s custom-fabricated metal desks. Players temporarily switched to wired mice, but Riot allowed them to return to wireless models for the October 2 matches after reporting that the swap had stopped the problem.

A separate clarification from Riot said Secretlab did not manufacture, supply, or sponsor the desks. The company is supporting Champions Shanghai with chairs only, leaving Riot responsible for the custom desks that caused the disruption.

For clarity: the desks currently being used at Champions were custom fabricated by Riot for the event. They were not manufactured, supplied, or sponsored by Secretlab.

Secretlab is supporting Champions with chairs only.

We’ve seen some confusion around this following our recent… https://t.co/guJpjw31Cx

— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) October 2, 2026

VALORANT esports head Leo Faria said Riot had seen no further mouse issues after replacing the desk tops and would continue monitoring the setup.

Glad to report no mouse issues after the desks were swapped. We’ll keep monitoring closely. Thanks everyone for your patience. https://t.co/h0FCx4vqLp

— Leo Faria (@lhfaria) October 2, 2026

Champions 2026 is a 16-team tournament running in Shanghai from September 24 through October 18. Repeated interference caused multiple technical pauses and disrupted matches, so Riot had asked every player to use a wired connection while it worked on a fix. Many competitors had already made the change, although switching away from a familiar wireless setup can still disrupt the peripheral settings and muscle memory players depend on during a major event.

A Split round put the ruling under pressure

The equipment trouble became a question of tournament procedure during round two on Split in the September 30 series between FUT Esports and 100 Thieves. After FUT won the pistol round, Yusuf “xeus” Doğan Gözgen had a Spectre but could not fire during a 2v1 against Jordan “vora” Pulwer. xeus died, FUT lost the round, and officials did not reset it at the time.

FUT vs 100T maçının 2. roundunda xeus'un silahı mermi atmayınca teknik duraklatma alındı.#VALORANTChampions pic.twitter.com/IrR1pLcXZS

— Yiğit (@kuulvibes) September 30, 2026

After an official post-match review, Riot concluded that the round should have been rolled back and accepted responsibility for the error. It will leave the match result in place, saying the other available options would overturn a win by a team that competed under the same conditions and was not responsible for the problem.

An update on VALORANT Champions Shanghai. pic.twitter.com/AWkQAMwUsS

— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) October 1, 2026

Riot has not explained why officials did not authorize a rollback during the live match. 100 Thieves won the map and the series 2-0 before advancing to the playoffs, while FUT is due to face the winner of T1 versus JDG in a lower-bracket match.

Riot has faced desk-related concerns at other events as well. At Masters London, it altered desks with a lip and light bars in response to concerns about unfair play during clutch rounds.

Should tournament officials always roll back a round when a hardware fault is confirmed, even after the match has moved on? Follow us as Champions Shanghai continues and Riot monitors the return to wireless mice on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

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