Riot Games have wasted no time in kick starting their plans for competitive Valorant in South East Asia, teaming up with seven esports organisations from across the region to bring collegiate and higher-tier leagues to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Both the upcoming First Strike series and the collegiate events will be individually managed by these organisations, offering pathways to international events for players throughout the region.
”Players have asked and we’re excited to answer. In Southeast Asia, the appetite for VALORANT esports has been tremendous and we are pleased to partner with the region’s leading esports organizations to introduce new heights of competitive play to the region,” said Chris Tran, Head of Esports at Riot Games Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Some of the organisations involved may be familiar to those already knowledgeable about the South East Asian esports scene, with Mineski spearheading the First Strike scene in the Philippines, while partnering with AcadArena to manage the Filipino collegiate scene.
We are extremely excited to announce that ESL will be running the official VALORANT esports and collegiate tournaments in Thailand for 2021, as the appointed partner of Riot Games Southeast Asia.
— ESL Asia (@ESL_Asia) October 14, 2020
We cannot wait to bring the best #VALORANT esports to our fans in Thailand! 🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/UQWcEvTWCy
ESL will tackle both scenes for Thailand, with ONE Up doing the same for Indonesia. PGL and Eliphant are teaming up to take on the Singaporean collegiate scene while The Gaming Company will oversee Singaporean First Strike and both scenes in Malaysia.
Talon Esports (their team PSG Talon recently participated in the League of Legends World Championship Group Stage) have stepped in to manage the Hong Kong scene as well as the First Strike series in Taiwan, leaving Taiwan Mobile and TeSL in charge of Taiwan’s collegiate scene.
For those managing the collegiate scenes, they’ll be liaising directly with universities in their respective countries to build up tournaments that allow students to fight for regional pride alongside their studies.
Registrations for First Strike are now starting to open up across South East Asia, with each of the regions being found at the following addresses.
- Philippines – October 14 at http://bit.ly/MineskiVxVReg
- Thailand – October 14 at https://pro.eslgaming.com/thailand/valorant/
- Indonesia – October 14 at http://valorant.oneup.co.id/
- Singapore – October 17 – http://valorantsg.com/
- Malaysia – October 17 at http://valorantmy.com/
- Taiwan and Hong Kong – November 1 at http://talon.gg/
With these tournaments being open entry, similar to what we’ve had here in Oceania, like the Ignition Series and Rise of Valour, there may be a team forming now that will dominate South East Asian Valorant in the coming months.
