SBJ Esports: Valorant pushes into the future

The Valorant world championship was a much-needed win for an esports industry that has seen its share of financial struggles. With a sellout crowd of 11,500 at Kia Forum in Inglewood last weekend and over 1 million people watching online worldwide, the finale for the Valorant Champions Tour had plenty of eyeballs focused on a still-emerging esports scene.

While the successful event is a good sign for publisher Riot Games and the broader esports industry, momentum will be important -- and that's something that may require a longer view.

“We're trying very hard and working very hard to look at esports as part of something bigger,” Leo Faria, global head of Valorant esports, told SBJ once the event wrapped up. “It's not only an esports competition, but we're trying to look at Valorant as an ecosystem. ... We have a young, highly diverse, highly engaged, highly desirable audience who are tuning into these moments. And I think brands are seeing that."

Andy Miller, CEO of esports team NRG (a founding member of the VCT), also was bullish on the esports scene for the game. “Riot has clearly poured resources into the global Valorant scene and China is coming on strong. All signs point to Valorant being a Tier 1 esport for years to come.”

What helped make the VCT Championship so successful is that Riot has experience operating one of the longest-standing global esports competitions with League of Legends. Using the lessons learned from LoL, Riot has given decision-makers data (empirical and anecdotal) on what works and what doesn’t. “We have the benefit of coming on second and learning through the biggest esport in the world,” said Faria. “Because for a game and a sport that is as hot as Valorant is at the moment, there are a lot of organizations and partner organizers and brands who want to be part of the sport.”

Among the lessons Valorant is deploying is a longer, more robust offseason, where more teams will have access to competitions (check out more on that from my colleague Hunter Cooke below). “We’re making changes going to next year to have the other parts of our ecosystem to run during the offseason," Faria explained. "Tier 2 being one of them, with all the challenger leagues around the world and Game Changers, too. I really hope those moments will put the spotlight onto different parts of the sport, different teams, and different pros." 

Evil Geniuses, reportedly one of the last partnered teams to be selected to VCT, came out of the weekend in L.A. emboldened about the future of the league -- no doubt helped by the team's win at the event.

“An incredible culmination of the first VCT franchise season," said Chris DeAppolonio, chief innovation officer at Evil Geniuses. "From the production to the fan events to the celebrities in attendance. After an incredible year of ups and downs, we came out on top; proving everyone wrong about our vision, strategies, and even whether we deserved a spot in the Valorant Champions Tour. Valorant will only continue to go up from here.”

DeAppolonio will look to carry the momentum into his new role as interim CEO of Evil Geniuses. He takes on the position after CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson stepped down on Thursday . -- Kevin Hitt

Red Bull’s deep integration into the Valorant ecosystem continues, even during the offseason. The energy drink maker, which sponsors athletes and teams across extreme sports, cycling, soccer, F1 and fencing, has signed up for a fourth year with its Red Bull Home Ground Valorant tournament.

The event, which is outside of the official Riot competitions, will take place in Tokyo at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan sumo wrestling arena from Nov. 3-5. Tokyo was also the site for Riot Games’ official Masters 2 tournament in June.

Red Bull will retain its title sponsor spot, and AGON by AOC is the official monitor sponsor for the event. No other plans for sponsors or partners were shared by Red Bull. Approximately 6,000 tickets will be sold for the experience, a little more than half the venue’s normal sumo capacity.

SCARZ, Fnatic, Cloud9, DRX, Zeta Division and 100 Thieves are teams that have qualified for the event. Two closed qualifiers will be held in Europe and Japan to determine the final two teams.

The energy drink brand is an in-game sponsor for all of Riot’s official competitions with its Red Bull “clutch” call. In 2020, Red Bull partnered with G2 Esports for a pre-franchising tournament and runs a series for college students called Campus Clutch. -- Hunter Cooke

• Daniil Medvedev, the No. 3 men’s tennis player in the world, joined Ubisoft as a game ambassador for the video game publisher’s popular Rainbow Six Siege.

• Esports organization Furia partnered with New Era to create a collection of headwear with the Furia branding, reports Esports Insider. The collection "consists of several different hat designs using New Era’s 9Fifty, 9Forty and 59fifty models, and is available for purchase through Furia's online store."

• Four pro Valorant players and their coach "have filed separate cases against the XSET organization in the state of California, seeking an order that would compel the organization to arbitrate disputes regarding owed proceeds from the Champions 2022 skin bundle," reports Dot Esports.

• Riot Games said that the Valorant Champions Tour in the Americas "will remain a 10-team league" as The Guard, still held by Rams Owner Stan Kroenke, "will not join due to missing deadlines to agree to enter the competition," notes Dexerto.

• The "anticipation has come to an end with the official revelation of the Miami Heretics Call of Duty League brand, marking the fruition of the partnership between the Florida Mutineers and Team Heretics," notes Esports Illustrated.