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Indian esports fanatics and the top figures have been left disappointed with Riot Games' ignorance of the country's Valorant esports.
Riot recently announced the Valorant Champions Tour 2021, including the eligibility of Southeast Asian countries. However, India has been excluded from the same.
The nation had no part to play in the First Strike tournament as well. However, judging by the success of Valorant esports in India in the last few months, there was little hope left.
Indians expected eligibility in the upcoming VCT 2021. But as it stands, Riot has decided not to include the country again.
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As a result, u/damn_joker10 complained on Reddit about how the publisher has overlooked Indian Valorant esports' growth. The thread caught the immediate attention of most esports fans in India, including the industry's prominent figures.
The post was circulated on social media by the big names in the industry and received massive support from the mobile esports community.
The growth of Indian PC esports and Valorant was massive last year
India has had complete success in terms of mobile esports, especially PUBG Mobile. However, with the banning of the same, the country's attention has shifted towards the PC gaming culture. While the CS: GO scene in the country had slowly faded away, PC esports fans looked towards Valorant.
Professionals and organizers buckled up as they saw the growth and number of talent and teams in India.
There are seven full-time professional teams in Valorant in India currently:
- Team Mahi
- Global Esports
- XTZ Esports
- Reckoning Esports
- GodLike Esports
- Noble Esports
- Team Tamilas
Team Mahi competed against some of the best in the region at the PvP Esports International tournament and showed their massive potential by coming third.
However, this was a one-time opportunity. Tournament organizers, like The Esports Club and Skyesports, do provide a national platform for the best teams. However, the lack of an outside brand or organizer, or Riot itself, providing a platform will lead to a faded esports sector with time.
The same teams might end up battling against each other, leaving no room for uplifting competition in the scene.
Other countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have also seen immense growth in PC and Valorant esports in these last few months, but they have also been excluded.
The Reddit post did catch the eye of Sukamal Pegu, Head of Publishing of India and South Asia, Riot Games. He came forward with an immediate public statement, ensuring a better future for Valorant esports in India.
Sportskeeda reached out to some of the pioneers and top figures of the esports sector in India.
Shiva Nandy, CEO of Skyesports, one of the leading tournament organizers in the country, says that he still has faith in Riot and is waiting patiently for their response.
He said:
"In the South Asia region, India is the only country to have an official dedicated server. This clearly means we, as gamers, need to understand their intentions and commitments for India. Also, we need to understand there might be complications. It's not ignored. We all should trust in their process. We hope Riot will include India in the roadmap."
Manoj "SENTINEL" Kasyap, CEO and owner of the most dominant Valorant team in India, Team Mahi, explained how Valorant has a promising future.
He said:
"We are a country of 1.3B people, and esports is the fastest-growing segment in India right now. Yes, the growth is more towards the mobile community. But that being said, more and more esports players are choosing pc gaming and Valorant specifically. Just last year, we have seen over 20 community tournaments just for one game, i.e., Valorant in the first eight months of its release, which is unprecedented."
"The game was well-received in India, and the numbers don't lie. It's sad for the players, fans, and owners do not have a slot for VCT 2021. Although we understand the reasons and accept the situation, it would help us all if Riot can comment on this and give us a road map going forward."
Mohit Israney, MD & Founder, Global Esports, believes that Indian esports will get a chance to shine internationally very soon.
"Riot Games as a publisher has a decade long history of creating the "largest competitive scene in esports with League of Legends, and with its newest first-person shooter, Valorant, its looking very hopeful for 2021."
"FPS games like Counter-Strike have been at the forefront of PC gaming and have given opportunity to many talented players. Riot launching Indian servers for Valorant is already a step in the right direction and has given rise to a really vibrant local tournament scene."
"We've had a similar experience with Blizzard when we wanted India to be at the Overwatch World Cup when it wasn't even a recognized region. It took us more than a year, but we made it happen, and in 2019, Global Esports took Team India for the Overwatch World Cup 2019 for the first time."
"We believe Valorant has tremendous potential, and there is so much talent in India. We would love to see Indian athletes at the forefront of the global competitive scenario and have an opportunity to wave our tricolor on international grounds."
Hopefully, Riot will address the situation with a concrete and well-built plan for India to thrive in esports and make a name for itself by taking a shot at every opportunity it gets.
