Creativity is your greatest weapon. That’s how Riot Games, the brains behind VALORANT, describe the game. Since its inception in 2020, the first-person tactical hero shooter has gone on to become all the rage in the gaming community and up to eSports mania, with players from GGBet casino big fans of the game. Valorant takes inspiration from the popular Counter-Strike series and has created a unique game industry brand with its own spin. Where multiplayer games explode, eSports thrive, and VALORANT has hitched a ride on the eSports fan bus with international tournaments, a thriving scene, and skilled players from other games retiring in favor of VALORANT careers. In this article, we’ll talk about the epic rise of VALORANT and what the eSports scene looks like for it, culminating in one of the world’s most exciting games for players and fans.
Did Valorant Fuel Esports Or The Other Way Around?
The gaming industry for competitive titles usually involves a particular mode of gameplay exploding in popularity and then the officials endorsing some sort of tournament, as was the case with Fortnite and their Battle Royale format. VALORANT might be a little different, though.
Riot Games was extremely quick to start pushing VALORANT as a global eSports title upon its release and announced the VALORANT Ignition series, thereby allowing pro players to build their reputation, which built the foundation for the later VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT), now the game’s official circuit. The VCT has gone on to become one of the world’s most premium eSports tournaments, with teams battling it out from all over the world to be crowned the Kings of VALORANT.
Valorant Champions Tour Format
Given how prestigious the VCT is, let’s talk about the tour in more detail because it’s been the driving force of VALORANT mania over the last couple of years. The VCT now works on a points-based system where teams are rewarded for consistency and good performances throughout the season:
Victory in the segments |
1 point |
Winning team |
3 points |
Seeds 1 and 2 of the playoffs (playing one match less) |
1 point |
Masters victory |
3 points |
Victory in the launch tournament |
3 points |
The Champions Tour is then split into several tournaments, with the kick-off tournaments for each league taking place at the start of mid-February and mid-March. Teams who reach the finals in the kick-off competitions automatically qualify for the first Masters competition. The next phase is the league segments, which are the bulk of the VCT, with EMEA, Pacific, Americas, and China segments taking place across March to May and then again in June to July. That brings us to the penultimate phase of the VALORANT Masters, which is a high-level international tournament that took place this year in Madrid and then Shanghai. Come the end of the season, the VALORANT Champions is upon us, which brings a total of sixteen teams, with four from each league. This is where VALORANT champions are made, and teams write themselves into the eSports history books!
Valorant Teams
Evil Geniuses
Having won the VALORANT Champions tournament in 2023, a Masters Tokyo runner-up, and various other last-stage accolades, Evil Geniuses were the team to beat in 2023.
Sentinels
Sentinels are regarded as one of the world’s finest VALORANT teams at the time of writing and having snatched victory at the 2024 Madrid Masters, Sentinels are a team that exudes raw talent and skill.
Paper Rex
Often the bridesmaid and never the bride, Paper Rex are consistently in the mix for the latter stages of key VALORANT competitions but thus far have often come up short.
Paper Rex still has some of the most talented VALORANT players on the scene with F0rsaken and Jinggg but will need to bag something big to be regarded as one of the best.
Loud
Brazilian superstars LOUD has one of the best rosters in the game at the moment. As former World Champions, they’ve thus far been unable to replicate success at the highest level this season, but make no mistake, write LOUD off at your peril.
Valorant Continues To Excite
Given the pedigree of the VALORANT Champions Tour, this is a game that continues to build extraordinary excitement across the eSports scene. Other game developers may want to take note of Riot Games’ approach to heavily promoting an official eSports league and competition because it has been no doubt instrumental to the success and popularity of VALORANT. It continues to be a game that takes inspiration from the classics, with its unique spin on things, and it’s hard to see VALORANT and its popularity across eSports going away any time soon.