The immediate popularity of the new tactical shooter created by Riot Games called Valorant has naturally brought forth a surge of organizations trying to get in on the action as the esports potential of the game shows itself.
Riot Games recently announced its partnership with more than 20 esports organizations to make unique competitive Valorant events in an esports initiative named Ignition Series. Every event organizer will operate their own tournament with variations that will include competitive open qualifiers, showmatches, and invitationals. Each tournament will feature a range of talent from aspiring amateurs to established personalities and top players.
The recent Valorant tournament of Twitch Rivals showed that even though the game is not even a month old yet, there are teams that are already getting ready to complete. In the North American area, a team led by TSM streamer Myth was filled with players on a nearly full roster that the team has already composed. In a different place, the former professional player of Counter Strike Global Offensive named Brad led a group of players that have signed with T1, ultimately winning the tournament.
Although a lot of organizations have not gotten in on the action yet, there are a lot of others who have started signing players, and the list is growing almost daily. Here is the list of teams that have started to gobble up the talented players of Valorant:
- 100 Thieves
- Cloud9
- Dignitas Female
- Gen. G
- Immortals
- Lazarus
- Sentinels
- Team SoloMid
- T1
- Ninja in Pyjamas
A lot of esports organizations are trying to recruit a Valorant team. 100Thieves, T1, and Cloud9 were the first, but a lot of others seem to be following in their footsteps since the latest FPS may have one of the largest competitive scenes to date. If you are a professional player and want to join the team, you can follow the social media of each team and check out if there is an announcement about the recruiting. In order to get the latest information, you can also join the community of Valorant, the place where you are able to see a lot of players of the game gather.
Given that a number of professional teams of Valorant have emerged, it is not surprising that there are third parties who are interested in holding tournaments. When asked about the esports strategy for Valorant, Riot Games revealed that they would let the third parties to hold a tournament of the game. However, that does not mean they are completely out of hand. In fact, they just announced the Valorant Ignition Series. Through the Ignition Series, they allow third parties to hold Valorant tournaments in the format they want. However, they have to submit the tournament they want to hold with Riot Games first. If Riot agrees, they will give the third party a license to hold the tournament of Valorant. In the end, they will be able to hold the tournament.
