Valorant’s esports scene is still on its beginning steps, but it is visualized to ramp up shortly.
Riot Games is decidedly taking a patient approach to growing Valorant’s esports ecosystem, sharing to ESPN about initial thoughts on how it will center around three core pillars: competitive integrity, accessibility, and authenticity.
The company also plans to support third-party tournaments and nurture an amateur scene.
Beginning Steps
To avoid forcing an esports scene at this point too early, Riot is forming partnerships with various third-party organizers, players, and online creators to build the grounds of its gaming ecosystem.
Whalen Rozelle, Riot’s senior director of global esports, said:
“We have massive dreams for what this game can be as an esport, and we’re excited to embark on this long esports journey with our players.”
With Valorant’s on-going hype in many online communities, it’s essential for Riot to ensure they make initial important decisions directed towards the game’s growth.
“Our primary focus early on will be forming partnerships with players, content creators, tournament organizers and developers— unlocking them to help us to build the VALORANT ecosystem.”
These crucial first steps will greatly define the direction of where Valorant is headed to.
More Relaxed Approach
After years of experience in running successful League of Legends (LoL) tournaments, Riot Games is ensuring they’re setting Valorant in the same direction— although in a more relaxed approach.
“We know VALORANT has the makings of a global esport, but want to make sure we’re building it right – and together. @RiotMagus talks first steps toward building the VALORANT esports ecosystem and our community tournament support: https://riot.com/3bbvVaa“
Fans seem to appreciate Riot’s initiative to make Valorant more inclusive:
“I am SO hyped for this. Thank you guys for staying transparent with us and communicating with us.”
“Awesome things coming for the VALORANT competitive community.”
Valorant even released its own Community Competition Guidelines to guide third-party organizers in hosting tournaments.
While all tournaments for LoL are completely locked down and run through Riot Games, third-party organizers can get their fair share of freedom in hosting Valorant competitions— guided they abide by the set rules, of course.
Different Tiers
According to Launcher, Riot already established three different tiers in terms of tournaments.
Small tournaments held in PC cafes will be set at a limited scale, with the maximum prize pool not exceeding $10,000.
Medium events, commonly organized by brands and various businesses and even by esports organizations and online influencers, cannot exceed the $50,000 prize pool.
Meanwhile, major tournaments will be exclusive for top-tier esports event organizers, such as Dreamhack and ESL.
The Hype is Real
Valorant has been taking the gaming scene by storm for weeks now. For a game which is still in its beta stage, Valorant’s influence is quite remarkable.The game even helped Twitch surpass viewership records during its first week. It set 148.7 million hours watched for the first seven days, beating records upheld by titular games like Apex Legends, Fortnite, and League of Legends.
