Riot Games bets big on India, South Asia post Valorant success

Valorant has emerged as a runaway success in Asia and developer Riot Games wants to increase its focus on the region by providing more exciting gamer experience

Riot Games’ flagship Valorant seems to have big plans for South Asia and India. Launched in June 2020, this 5-on-5 tactical first-person shooter (FPS) became increasingly popular consistently across regions. The game was launched in a phased manner across countries amid the raging pandemic however the enthusiasts took no time to find ways to access the game before its release in their respective countries.

Valorant breaks records

Valorant was quick to break viewership records on Twitch in the beta phase itself and the game witnessed 1.7 million viewers simultaneously in the first week of April 2020.

However, as the previous year was majorly overshadowed by the pandemic, esports had its own share of issues to deal with. A lot of events ended up being canceled initially but the latter part of the year saw numerous online events lined up.

Riot Games scheduled its first event First Strike in October 2020 to establish regional champions. On the other hand, several organizations hosted community events that were whole-heartedly welcomed by the masses across Europe and North-America.

India and South Asia too organized a slew of events with the stipulated registrations and viewership numbers. A few worth mentioning would be Skyesports League 2020, Agni Series by Nodwin and India Today League: Valorant Cup among others, which were some of the prominent Valorant events held in 2020.

Riot pins Valorant’s hopes on Asia

Recognizing the potential, Valorant is overseeing and paying attention to the region. Buoyed by the positive response, Valorant had earlier stated, “We’re thrilled with the response to our launch of Valorant in India and South Asia and are assessing our plans for next steps on our presence in the region, including esports.” It further thanked the players for their love and support.

We’re thrilled with the response to our launch of VALORANT in India and South Asia and are assessing our plans for next steps on our presence in the region, including esports.

Thanks for the love and support 👊

— VALORANT // India & South Asia (@playvalorantsa) January 20, 2021

The developers have been actively paying attention to the region and they have duly established its presence with local servers to provide lag-free and low-ping competitive matchups. Riot had earlier revealed a road map for esports in 2021. With such excitement among both gamers and the developers, it will be interesting to see what’s in store for India and South Asia in 2021.