Esports is clearly a big part of Riot's Valorant plans: League of Legends is more than a decade old, but is still a hugely popular game with a thriving pro scene; Riot sees similar potential in its new shooter, and today, the competition Riot sees similar potential in their new shooter, and today they shared some ideas for Valorant's future as a competitive esport.

"We are overwhelmed by the interest and excitement behind Valorant and are excited to embark on this long esports journey with you. We have already heard questions about what esports will look like, and while it is still early, we will try to share as many details as we can," wrote Whalen "Magus" Rozelle, Riot's esports director.

"As part of our Authenticity principle, we want Valorant to grow naturally. That's why our main focus is to partner with players, content creators, tournament organizers, and developers early on to help build this ecosystem"

To get a better idea of how organizers work, Riot has released "Community Tournament Guidelines" that outline the basic requirements for small, medium, and large tournaments. Local tournaments organized by players, PC cafes, or community members, where prize pools can be up to $10,000, are primarily for fun and "social play"; major tournaments, on the contrary, serve as a "prelude to competitive play" Fully organized events, organized by major esports organizations such as ESL and Dreamhack through Riot's global esports team.

There are also guidelines for casters, sponsors, and partners, including the requirement that tournaments broadcast online must be properly moderated "to prevent vulgarity, abuse, or other nasty environments" in chat. Medium and large tournaments, those focused on monetization and brand development, must turn off the "show blood" option in Valorant's settings, which is oddly puritanical in an era when every teaser for Mortal Kombat is more delightfully bonkers than the last. It may seem like a limitation, but as Polygon points out, cutting the blood (even if the gunfight remains) could make the pro-Valorant scene more appealing to advertisers.

"In the future, look for us to partner with others who share our vision and work closely with game development teams to maintain a consistent experience between Valorant and esport," Rozelle wrote.

"To those of you who hope to be competing in the Valorant ecosystem 10, 20, or 30 years from now, we look forward to working with you and your teams to ensure a consistent experience between Valorant and esport.

While these tournaments are still a long way off, Riot is (very) slowly opening up Valorant to the masses: closed beta keys can now be earned by watching Valorant streams on Twitch, closed beta Server capacity is being ramped up to keep up with demand.