'VALORANT' Ignition Tournament Series Promises Future Esports Plans

Esports are heating up for Riot Games' new tactical shooter "VALORANT." The company announced the debut of the Ignition Tournament Series, the first opportunity outside of Amazon's AMZN Twitch Rivals series for players to jump in an organized tournament setting.

"We're thrilled to pull together the best from gaming and esports to deliver a program that will showcase 'VALORANT' on a global scale," Whalen Rozelle, senior director of esports at Riot Games, said. "The Ignition Series will unlock the creative potential of some of our top partners and will help us build an esport from the ground up that is authentic to the 'VALORANT' community."

Why It's Important: Experimenting with tournament formats is an important first step in building a solid platform for competitors, and Riot Games is making a tremendous effort by inviting teams and organizations into the building process. Riot Games has partnered with over 20 esports organizations to help build the global tournament. Each event organizer will have their own open qualifiers, show matches, and invitationals that will mix up top talent, content creators, and amateurs.

What's Next: The first event in the Ignition Series begins on June 19 with the European G2 Esports Invitational, presented by Red Bull, and the Rage Valorant Japan Invitational.

"We are ready to open the 'VALORANT' Ignition Series and continue the success of the G2 EU Brawls in an all-out entertainment-filled invitational," Carlos Rodriguez, CEO of G2 Esports, said in a statement. "Our partnership with Riot has helped make the European League of Legends community the force it is today and contributed to the success of the LEC, and I have no doubt that we will do the same for 'VALORANT'."