Valorant has propelled Riot Games in the first-person shooter (FPS) category and established itself as one of the dominant esports titles. The publisher will reportedly allow teams and organizations to form partnerships with betting companies actively. This change could affect the entire gaming industry due to the existing financial burdens.
The form of partnership with professional esports players could yield positive results on an individual scale; however, this could result in sizable sponsorships and increase the influence of one organization over another. Various issues could taint Riot’s current esports scene with the involvement of betting partnerships.
Valorant developer Riot Games allows legal hand-shakes between teams and betting companies
Several esports titles in the entire platform allow for different forms of wagers. The presence of betting has driven down the economic stability of various games. Riot Games allowing Valorant organizations to be sponsored by betting companies is the complete opposite of their stance for League of Legends.
The publisher has been against any Valorant professional League teams being aided by betting companies. Riot still opposes any gambling organization alongside cryptocurrency establishments. The company’s nature toward this topic caught the entire community off-guard as it waved the green flag for the entry of betting firms.
A complete list of details is yet to be revealed, as Riot Games has not made any public announcements. There are also quite a few concerns regarding the form of partnerships that will be allowed and if the contracts will be supervised by Riot itself.
However, if Riot Games imposes a ruleset for all the participating teams regarding sponsorship methods and limits, equal opportunities can be made available. This could benefit all teams as betting companies can invest in them and provide an improved experience. However, the cons of such details are also known to the entire player base.
At the time of writing this article, Riot Games did not address this topic directly. Fans and enthusiasts can watch out for the official Twitter page for more details.