The final of Valorant, a history of the development of e-sports

We were at the tournament, where we were able to meet characters from each of the components of the competition, all aspects of who participates, and understand this complex ecosystem of e-sports.

First, the organization, RIOT Games, is responsible for the creation of the game and the competition. The qualifying format for this elite league is made up of 10 teams from across the continent. Including Latin American teams such as Leviatán and the winner of this first American competition LOUD, from Brazil, who wins a prize of 100,000 million dollars and a privileged place in the world championship, accompanied by NRG and Evil Geniuses from the United States.

In terms of audience, the American leagues are positioned as one of the fastest growing audiences compared to other regions, for example, the VCT Americas final between Loud and NRG, had a peak of viewers of more than 550,000 people simultaneously, Compared against the same VCT Pacific League, which includes Japan and India, which surpassed 399,000 viewers simultaneously, according to Esports charts.

To understand the steps to take to reach these instances, Nicolás Yentzen, head of Valorant e-sports LATAM talks about the competitive process.

“There are different levels and categories, the VCT Americas is the final of the continent, but to access this level we have created regional, development and inclusion leagues to advance as an organization,” says Yentzen, referring to the competitions offered by the places for this ending.

For example, the Valorant Challengers is a league where professional teams can take the first steps as organizations to access international instances and measure themselves at a highly demanding competitive level.

Additionally, with the desire to professionalize and reduce the gap that exists between being an amateur or a professional, both official competitions and organized leagues within the same community have been added.

For example, the recently launched “premier league”, a game mode within the same platform that allows you to organize with friends or acquaintances and participate in the game as a team, learning about the dynamics that would take a team to higher levels.

Given this, Bear Jemison, head of Valorant e-sports Americas, tells us about the importance of creating the foundations of a game that was born competitive and the importance of making more formats at all levels.

“We seek to create bases in all regions that allow us to keep them balanced, generating more and better skills, which in turn can be more diverse” referring to what is experienced in North America, Latin America and Brazil, since despite being a game that was introduced around the world simultaneously, some parts of the world have seen faster progress than others.

The case of the Latin region is beginning to take leaps and bounds, says Carlos Antunes, head of e-sports for Latin America and Brazil, “although Valorant is stronger in other more mature regions, such as the European or Asian market, the region The one that grows the most in terms of players, leagues and how it approaches the competitive level is Latin America, however we must continue promoting new teams and players in the region ”

Valorant has remained a game on the rise in terms of players globally, exceeding 20 million monthly active players in May 2023, according to Tracker Network figures, considering that it is an exclusive game for PC and in a strictly competitive format. .

On the other hand, the teams and players are the fundamental part of this sport. Matías Delpietro Alias ​​Sadhak, Argentinian, captain and MVP of the competition, from the Brazilian esports organization Loud, tells us about the importance of creating safe spaces for new players that allow them to extend professional careers without sacrificing physical and mental health “In Loud the new elements are 17 years old and entering to compete at the highest level generates a lot of demand and stress. It is important to have solid leadership, especially on my part to cover the new elements” and complements “We must understand that we are playing but this is also our job”.

These teams are made up of multiple entities, from the administrative order and owners, through technical directors or coaches, and the players, for many the road is long and tortuous, for example for Agustín Ibarra “Nozzwerr” Leviatán player, the only Spanish-speaking Latin American team to reach the playoffs of the competition, tells of his journey, “I started participating in locally organized tournaments, I gained recognition, until you caught the attention of a team” however for others, or in regions with opportunities or prejudices different is not so simple.

For his part, Carlos Aréstegui “Blue” Mexican player who is today a partner and content creator for Valorant LA, talks about the challenges he experienced in his desire to become a professional player or be linked to video games. “I started playing in a cybercafé on the corner of my house, without many resources and I had to deal with my mother who wanted me to be an engineer and would leave videogames”

“What I want is to create an environment and an ecosystem that allows me to not be the exception, that there are many Blue” says Aréstegui, thinking about how to combat the prejudice of belonging to the industry, to understand that it is a robust environment and as he mentions Antunes “the video game industry needs good accountants, good marketing people, not just professional players”.

In addition to these characters, the production and the people in charge of carrying out these tournaments face similar prejudices, for example Malena Souto “Suga” and Daniela Herrera Dryad, are two hosts and analysts from Argentina and Colombia respectively who agree on the importance of understanding the path and ecosystem of Valorant. In the case of their roles as interviewers and analysts, it is not only about the charisma on camera, but also carries a responsibility to understand the game, to know the strategies, understand the decisions and read the games “To play Valorant, you have to have a lot of curiosity and analyze in detail each step and each play” said Suga.

The competition still has many challenges, and all those involved agree that it is important to continue taking the steps of inclusion and diversity in all senses, not only to transcend from the amateur to the professional, but also to reduce the economic and gender gaps. Initiatives such as Riot and the Game Changers League, aimed at being an incubator that allows more women to become pro players, seek to bring this audience closer even with little representation. To mention a few cases, in this competition there were no women among the players and only one woman is a team coach, it is still a male majority despite the fact that according to Statista 34% of PC gamers identify themselves as women and even 45% of gamers globally are women.

The region represents many challenges, ranging from marketing terms and linking non-native brands and companies to recognize the value of esports, even in terms of reducing economic and gender gaps to be a more diverse sport, however, see the progression of games and tournaments such as the steps taken by Valorant in just 3 years provide a promising horizon for the video game and esports industry.