What will Valorant esports look like?

Being a project that was so clearly built with competitive integrity at the forefront, and coming from a developer that has such a strong reputation in esports, Valorant feels destined to be the next big thing in professional gaming.

In keeping with their top tier communication during the closed beta, Riot have now published an article summing up their initial strategy for Valorant esports. Whalen “Magus” Rozelle, who is the Senior Director of Global Esports, introduced himself to the community, giving fans a personal connection.

Magus made it clear that he and his team are fully aware that Valorant has huge potential, but whilst they have big plans, they want to take things slowly and make sure to get it right. In order to create an esport with real longevity, he talked about three guiding principles: Competitive integrity, Accessibility and Authenticity.

Eventually, the goal is to set up their own league, but to begin with, Riot will be looking at third party organisations to host community run tournaments and will sanction official events with these partners. They have established standards for tournament organisers to run vents, featuring 3 tiers:

Small – Community events, $10,000 max prize pool

Medium – Middle-tier businesses and esports orgs, $50,000 max prize pool

Major – Large scale events hosted by big esports leagues, like those you see in CS:GO

It is motivating to see that the developers are already devoting time and resources to esports. If they stick to their word, taking things step by step to build the best competitive structure possible, then Valorant truly could have a long and successful future.

You can find the full “Valorant Esports and Community Competition” blog post from Riot here.