Riot will leave VALORANT competitive scene in the community’s hands (for now)

Riot Games just issued a press release containing information on its esports vision for VALORANT, and it looks like the community will be in charge of the scene’s development—for now.

What did the statement say?

Riot’s Senior Director of Global Esports, Whalen Rozelle, said in the press release: “We’re overwhelmed by the initial interest and excitement in VALORANT. 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. 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.”

The developer’s plan for the 5v5 tactical shooter’s competitive scene initially centers around three core pillars: competitive integrity, accessibility and authenticity. These pillars are being strengthened in order to ensure a meritocracy where players have a fair chance at reaching high levels of play.

Community Competition Guidelines

In order to move toward their vision of a fair competitive scene, Riot also released the VALORANT Community Competition Guidelines. These rules will help third-party organizers to create healthy, integrated tournaments that amateur players can compete in with confidence that their participation matters on a community-wide scale.

This means that for now, Riot is leaving the fate of VALORANT esports in the hands of the people. This is unlike the developer’s approach with League of Legends esports, which quickly became assumed under the control of Riot Games early on. The professional and collegiate leagues both feed through the developer, and any amateur-level competition faces strict regulation as well. With VALORANT, third part organizers will be able to get in early and have a say in how the scene develops.

What’s next for VALORANT?

VALORANT entered beta last week, with stream drops being the primary way of receiving a code for entry. According to Riot, now all streamers who play VALORANT on Twitch will be eligible for stream drops, so now is the perfect time to watch some game play and get started on your amateur tactical shooting career.

Theresa Gaffney

Theresa is a seasoned esports professional with nearly ten years under her belt developing content and running esports teams and leagues. She is currently the head coach for Messiah College's esports program and a freelance industry consultant.

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