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Compared to the closed beta release, the fact that Valorant’s popularity has dropped leaps and bounds comes as a surprise to no one. Even after considering the bloated Twitch viewership numbers, which occurred as a result of the closed beta drop system, Valorant’s viewer statistics have plummeted across each and every streaming platform.
And the reason for that is that the game is just not fun to watch. And now, prominent streaming personalities like Summit1g, Tfue and even Shroud have gone on camera to say that unlike CS: GO, a game like Valorant brings no excitement to the viewer unless he/she is actually playing the game.
Unlike the first T1xNerdStreetGamers Invitational, which had an incredible viewership rating, recent Valorant tournaments had a greatly-reduced watch count.
Watching a complete professional game of Valorant (and not the highlights reel) is at times confusing and boring. From an observer's point of view, the game will often feel very repetitive, with the attacking team doing the same routine every round.
Sure, there is a high-skill requirement in the game, but the ceiling is a lot lower than that of CS: GO, making for a much-less exciting viewership experience.
Riot is aware of the viewership issues with Valorant
In their recent Ask Valorant #3 activity, when asked about the observing client, the Valorant devs replied by saying that, “We know the esports observer tool currently in VALORANT is a little bare-bones, but it’s something that we’ll be building together in the coming while. We’re taking notes from each set of Ignition series tournaments (happening every weekend!) and getting active input from organisers, spectators, and audience members so we make sure we prioritise the right tools.
Long-term, the observer client is a tool to enable storytelling and to capture the action and style of the game played at the highest level—everything we love about VALORANT from an esports perspective. We believe VALORANT has the potential to be a sport watched and enjoyed by gamers everywhere, but in order for that promise to be realised, we have to craft a viewing experience like no other, and the foundation for that is with the observer client.”
Sure! The game is complex and brings its own brand of chaotic confusion when the rounds get heated, with too many things happening across the map.
Keeping track of weapon purchases, available skills and making attacking team routines an exciting affair is not the easiest thing to pull off. "Riot is trying to make the necessary tool that unlocks a broadcast team’s ability to craft amazing viewer experiences. However, it's not just building a great observer client but ensuring there's easy access to real-time data that unlocks a bunch of features and experiences at the broadcast level, as well as experiences like fantasy sports adjacent to the broadcast.
We'll need to build not just the tools you see available today but also dream up what more could be done to unlock broadcast teams in the community and at Riot. We'll have more to share on this in the coming months.”
