The Faze Clan VALORANT invitational tournament just gave fans a glimpse of what the future of VALORANT might look like as an esports.
After the initial launch of VALORANT, Riot Games claimed they are not going to actively host VALORANT tournaments. However, they later changed their approach and introduced the Ignition series where big tier-1 organizations from all over the world will host their own tournaments with a prize pool.
The first few VALORANT tournaments like the Twitch Rival was a huge disappointment in the eyes of many players and notable figures in the esports scene as there were serious allegations against Riot Games that they were using bots to artificially boost viewer numbers.
Currently, the situation is quite different from when the game initially launched. The very recent Faze Clan VALORANT invitational tournament broke in more than 1,00,000 viewers on Twitch. Furthermore, in the Grand final where TSM and Sentinels were at all-out war, VALORANT brought in almost 1,40,000 viewers at its peak.
Even some naysayers warmed up to VALORANT as a top tier esports title that might have a very bright future ahead. As of now, Riot Games just want to sit back and watch how the Ignition series goes. If somehow VALORANT as an esports begins to see more traction like their flagship product League of Legends, Riot might just jump in and take matters into their own hands.
- More Related: VALORANT players are now complaining that FFA Deathmatch feels like a “pre-firing practice” range with radar pings
From their very successful League of Legends tournaments, it is very safe to assume that VALORANT will also get the same amount of attention it deserves. Even though the future is very uncertain right now, the nail-biting Grand Final match where TSM won the Faze Clan VALORANT invitational tournament 3-2 against Sentinels further gives assurance that there is an interest in VALORANT as an esports.
