With Valorant all over the gaming news recently and in the minds of a fair few (judging by the number of people watching streams for a beta key), the prospect of the shooter becoming another esports darling has likely crossed some minds. It certainly has crossed Riot Games’, as they have put out some guidelines for anyone that wishes to run esports tourneys using the game, which include, among other things, a “no blood” rule for every tournament.
Under the broadcasting section for each size of tournament, whether those tournaments are run by smaller PC cafes or major esports organizers like ESL and Dreamhack, the “Show Blood” toggle must be turned off in order to gain Riot’s blessing. There are a number of other guidelines as well, including caps on cash prize pools — $10,000 maximum for small events, and $50,000 for medium events, which are classed as those run by “middle-tier businesses and brands,” esports orgs, and influencers.
What does this effectively mean for official Valorant esports? According to senior director of global esports Whalen Rozelle, the focus is mostly on supporting third-party organizers instead of building a league around the FPS.
“As part of our Authenticity principle, we want to let Valorant grow naturally; we’re not looking to force anything too quickly without knowing what’s best for esports fans. As such, a primary focus early on will be forming partnerships with players, content creators, tournament organizers, and developers—unlocking them to help us to build this ecosystem.”
