August 11, 2022 Another credible source in the Valorant scene has disputed claims that VCT partner teams could receive stipends of over $1 million
You know that Valorant partnership program everyone’s talking about? Well, the interview phase for that is almost over and more information about what fans – and upcoming partnered teams – can expect from the substantial Valorant esports changes coming in 2023 is coming to light. We don’t know which organisations have made the cut just yet, but we do know whoever does is going to be getting a huge paycheck.
Dexerto reports that the estimated stipend Riot Games will be paying esports organisations to run a team in one of its’ three international leagues could range from around $1 million to more than $1.5 million. It’s clear that Riot Games want to make sure this stays one of the best competitive FPS games on the market right now.
From what Dexerto has learned, it looks like this value will depend on the region and the varying running costs teams in each region will face. Teams in the Asia-region partner league will get the lowest amount – albeit still rumoured to be at least $1 million – while teams in the EMEA and NA league will get a little more.
However, these figures have been disputed by another credible source in the Valorant esports scene, Dot Esports’ George Geddes. He says that he’d be “extremely surprised” if teams got payouts as high as the $1.5 million that has been reported. He also claims that the base stipend for partner teams will be closer to $300,000, but that various add-ons from deliverables and skin sales could see teams make roughly a million dollars, but it’s not a guarantee.
Riot Games first announced in April 2022 that it would be introducing a partnership scheme centred around three regional leagues to the Valorant esports scene in 2023. This would replace the open circuit system that Valorant esports has been operating on since the shooter’s launch and will mark an important milestone in the competitive scene surrounding this game.
What makes this situation interesting, and the value of the stipend in question so exciting, is that it’s quite a lot different from other high-profile esports competitions. Rather than have a set buy-in fee for organisations looking to compete, Valorant is effectively going to vet and choose which organisations deserve a spot in its league and then pay them to help with the operational costs associated with running a team in the aforementioned league.
In theory, this should ensure that the competition in each league is healthy and that no participating team will need to worry about the financial side of running a successful esports team. Whether this idyllic look at an esports league will play out how everyone hopes and wants remains to be seen. What we do know is that there are already popular esports organisations taking a step back from Valorant after facing rejection. It looks like climbing the Valorant ranks isn’t paying off for everyone.
Could the decisions made by Riot Games and the stipends create a more condensed esports scene that eventually becomes impossible to break into? We hope not. We know Valorant VCT 2023 hopefuls have been getting creative to swoon Riot, but maybe they need to step it up a gear for this sort of cheque.