Tournament organizers are pivotal towards the growth of a particular Esports in any region. As simple as it may sound, the more tournament organizers we have the more opportunities the player-base gets to showcase their skills.
Some of the biggest TOs in the region:
- The Esports Club
- Skyesports
- Nordwin Gaming
Each of these tournament organizers are valuable chips that help run the VALORANT circuit in the region all year round. It is with the help of these events that smaller organizations/rosters in the region get to put on a show week in and week out.
Riot games all set to undergo sweeping changes in the Valorant Champions Tour for next year
The bigger organizations in the region always have the main VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) circuit to fall back on. However, for the rest of the competition these Tournament Organizers provide them an important battleground not just financially but also for bragging rights.
What are third party events?
Third party events are the tournaments organized outside of the main circuit by Riot Games where teams are either invited or qualify via an open qualifier. The people responsible for running these third-party events are the regional or international TOs across the globe.
These organizers not only host tournaments off the main circuit but are also tasked to hold the main VCT qualifiers on behalf of Riot Games. We just last stage Nordwin Gaming host the VCC which fed directly into the VCT 2021: APAC playoffs. This time however, Skyesports will be hosting these qualifiers.
So, as you can see there are incentives and competitions among the organizers themselves to provide better facilities in a bid to get noticed by Riot Games. This overall increases the quality of production and tournaments in the region.
Growth money and games
The region is seeing a steady rise in the viewership when it comes to PC Gaming. According to Esports charts a total of 8 million viewers watched the Skyesports VALORANT League in 2021, an astounding 200% growth as compared to the previous year. Matches features Global Esports and Velocity Gaming rack up insane numbers and is only behind the Japanese region on the continent in terms of viewership.
The highly anticipated match 2 for #VCTLatam starts now!@InFinitye_sport vs @fusionfsgg https://t.co/vRjYq9EGji
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) May 13, 2022
It is not just the public perception that is changing in the region when it comes to PG Gaming but there is a steady flow of money into the scene as well. The Esports Club has established itself as one of the scene’s most promising names in 2021. It’s now hosting the region’s largest third-party VALORANT event, with a prize pool of INR 52,00,000 ($67k) and teams from across the region participating.
The future
While franchising is expected to bring a new ear for VALORANT, it also raised concerns about the future of third-party events. However, if anything franchising will only serve as an important medium that will elevate the competition among these TOs in the region.
The future looks bright and the steady growth will only be accelerated by a franchising-based model. The fans in the region can rejoice and expected event more events and quality of production in the coming years.