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The Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) has changed its operating method. Riot Games have declared that Valorant's future will be determined by franchising and have formally published a list of 30 teams who have been chosen as the world's first partners.
10 teams from each of the three zones will collaborate with authorities to enhance the quality of events and other aspects. The selected teams will continue in the program until 2028, at which point Riot Games may reconsider their choice. The news sparked interest not just among spectators, but also among individual sportsmen looking to join a linked squad.
Valorant community has a mixed bag of reactions to the new partnership program
Many supporters were delighted when their favorite esports teams were accepted into the program. The final rankings, however, were very shocking, with some of the largest esports organizations missing out.
Only 10 teams from each zone were allowed to participate, and while North America and Europe have plenty of excellent lineups, there wasn't enough room to accommodate everyone. However, many were baffled by Riot's reasoning for excluding meritorious Valorant teams.
Reddit user u/shinchan141 sparked debate in Reddit after asking the Valorant competitive community about their interest levels after the introduction of the new partnership program.
Several users have voiced their opinions on the matter. Some are ecstatic about the new system and want to know more, whereas some are shocked about their teams not being included in the Riot partnership program.
Reddit user u/EmilialsBestWaifu has commented on how a fresh team will find it quite difficult to make a name for themselves with the introduction of the new system.
The user cited The Guard as a prime example as they went from an unknown team to stomping a lot of North American teams. The community won't have that anymore as it's going to be the same franchises fighting in the main stages.
Another user thinks that more people will be interested at first, but the tournament may get stale for viewers after a while. They further cited the reason for the drop by saying that there are very few teams, and a clear hierarchy will be created after the initial stages.
The roster shuffle and the off-season will look exciting and fans that have lesser regional representation would probably be invested in the tournament all the way through.
User u/Dark_Azazel says that they would be more interested in the second year, and thinks that Riot will add more teams to each regional league after the first year. They further stated that they might phase out from it if Riot doesn't add more teams to the tournament.
Another Reddit user stated that the overall play might go down in the first year or so, as XSET and OpTic Gaming really were the best teams in North America, but have not been included in the partnership.
The user further expressed their opinion that the move might just be for Riot's long-term financial success and not to make the game more competitive.
A user replied to this by saying that it would be surprising if most of the XSET/OpTic Gaming squad is not scattered through different franchised Valorant teams. While this is yet to be seen, it remains a likely possibility.
A quirky post by user u/btkc read that the drama surrounding this news is much more interesting. This certainly may be the reason why Riot has not given a berth to many popular teams. Social media is abuzz with the news of their favorite Valorant teams not being able to qualify for the regional leagues.
One user stated that the question shall be answered when Riot announces the format for the Valorant Tier 2 tournaments.
Another user spoke about how they would probably not watch Valorant as much next year due to them being more interested in real competition through an open system.
Another user cited the reason due to which they will be involved less is the business and economic side of esports, yet again. This is quite shocking and they deem it to be a disgrace as the players and the coaches should always come first and not the business.
