One of the big talking points is Riot Games effectively eliminating the content creation incentive program. There was an incentive program for content creation where teams would be incentivized to create content around the scene, events, and the Valorant VCT Championship. In exchange, they would get paid for doing so. This involved watch parties, where if the watch parties reached a certain number of views, teams would get a cut of $400k, the maximum possible. Various other incentives were provided for social media activations around the game. For example, G2 signed FNS briefly as a content creator to help them reach their incentives.
Not as many teams as expected took up this offer. Some teams did, but others did not, possibly because the incentives were not quite right. Rumor has it that Riot will eliminate this entirely for the next season. Riot is trying to save money by doing this. Teams are still expected to make content, but they won’t get incentivized to do it anymore. The goals are going to be lower. Riot is making hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars off cosmetics and the game itself, yet the amount of money that goes back to the teams to create a healthier ecosystem is decreasing. Riot will raise the fixed payment from the digital cosmetic sales that go to the teams.
Fnatic vs. DRX – VCT Championship
Alfajaer tried his best, but Buzz and Mako from DRX got the job done. DRX took the map 13-11, and on Lotus, DRX dismantled Fnatic. Hero had a rough one. Hero’s performance on this high level is still unproven, and the pressure might start to show cracks.
Group B Continues to Deliver
Heretics scraped past FPX in the first round. FPX looked really good, but Gen.G, who many predicted to win the whole thing, went down to Heretics. This series was an absolute banger. The Abyss went 13-11 Gen.G’s way, Lotus was a 13-3-11 bounce back, and Bind was 13-10 for Team Heretics. Heretics advanced to the brackets, DRX advanced, and Gen.G went down to the losers bracket.
Sentinels’ Challenges
FNS shared thoughts on whether Sentinels can turn it around. If Sentinels beat FPX, it would be an upset. If FPX beats Gen.G, then Sentinels might get grouped. Sentinels face a significant challenge to get out of their Valorant VCT group because FPX is playing well. Even if Sentinels beat FPX, they would then have to play Gen.G.
In the Americas, Sentinels, Leviatan, and G2 have made some progress over the last couple of months. Loud has dropped out of the top five. In EMEA, Fanatic has had top sales. In the Pacific, Paper Rex leads. The top five best-selling bundles in the Americas are Sentinels, Leviatan, G2, Crew, and Cloud 9. In the Pacific, it’s Paper Rex, T1, Zeta, DRX, and Gen.G.
New Team Classic Skins Incoming in 2025 –
Next year, Riot plans to release another classic skin, as they did this year. Every team got a classic skin, and the capsule was bought in massive numbers. Hopefully, we’ll be available to see more gun skins added to the store and not just the classic.
