Valorant community unhappy with recent ruling on teabagging dispute, calls it a "terrible take" by Riot

The Valorant Game Changers community has seen its fair share of controversy (Image via Riot Games)
The Valorant Game Changers community has seen its fair share of controversy (Image via Riot Games)

In a recent ruling, Riot Games handed bans to two Valorant Pros over an alleged teabagging incident. Following the ruling, there has been widespread debate within the community, with many players calling out Riot Games on their double standards when it comes to enforcing rules.

The incident in question took place this year in June. While engaging in conversation on the Galorants Discord server, an individual brought up a conversation meant for more serious discussions. The conversation slowly turned its course and became about teabagging.


Valorant teabagging dispute: What actually happened?

As the conversation progressed, the individual equated teabagging in Valorant to s*xual assault. This caused an uproar on the server. While the mods took their time to respond to the issue, the conversation had already spilled out onto social media. Two pros from the Valorant Game Changers circuit allegedly took to Twitter and targeted the individual who had brought up the conversation in the first place.

Following the incident, the Galorants Discord server was shut down temporarily. Riot Games investigated the incident and banned two players for harassing others on social media. Following the ban, the community went into a frenzy.


Valorant community believes Riot Games doxxed the two individuals who were banned

In the post where Riot Games declared their verdict on the bans, they mentioned the full names of the individuals. Of the two people, one of them had an issue with being named.

The community was troubled by the stance that Riot Games took with respect to naming the individuals. Moreover, the bans were a source of contention, with many feeling that it was absurd that someone had equated teabagging in Valorant to s*xual harassment.

Many members of the community also felt that by approaching a policy of naming and shaming, Riot Games has probably made it even harder for a victim of s*xual harassment to come out with their own story.

However, one member of the community pointed out that the individuals were not banned because of teabagging. Instead, Riot took issue with their actions after the conversation spilled onto social media.

While this does show that Riot Games does not stand for harassment of any kind, the community could not understand why the developers had named the two accused in the situation, but kept the identity of the victim hidden.

VCT: Game Changers is a tournament for women and individuals of other marginalized genders. The Galorants Discord server was made specifically for members of the Game Changers community. However, it is sad that this community has been marred with controversy since the beginning.

Many individuals in the past have accused Riot of being partial and selective when it comes to enforcing rules with respect to the Valorant Game Changers pro scene. Hopefully, things will change for the better, and soon.

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Edited by Saman