Feint

𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 - 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭, 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬. We supported the scene, even as Tier 2 and Tier 3 Valorant were dragged into the ground. We never expected to be picked for the franchise. We were never mad about it. The environment in T2 was terrible, but we stayed. Make fun of us, troll us, insult us, who cares. We care about players and orgs actually surviving in T2. We care about Valorant as an esport for everyone, not just Tier 1. Most fans have no idea how broken the system is. It can’t work. It’s not sustainable. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒 ‘𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑’. Outside of the franchise, Valorant survives because of passion - people accept minimal wages just to keep the scene alive: CEOs, editors, social media managers, players, coaches, broadcast talent… everyone. Salaries race to the bottom. Prize money never arrives. We still haven’t received ours. Yet we still stayed because we believed things could get better. Because we care about the game, our fans, and the community. We’ve proven that again and again. We invested in boot camps, in mental coaching, a full coaching staff, and a whole content team around competitive Valorant. We built up a gaming facility. 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 ‘𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑇2.’ We played in leagues with broken broadcasts - sometimes no broadcast at all. We didn’t receive the prize money we earned. We were blocked from signing betting sponsors (which are essential for surviving in esports if you are not in T1). We couldn't represent any of our sponsors in watch parties. Still, we built a full content team around Valorant. We signed multiple creators. We posted nonstop short- and long-form content. We built one of the most popular Valorant podcasts. We supported a Game Changers roster from scratch to consistent top 3 placements. We always defined ourselves through performance. But even achievement couldn’t support longevity. Game Changer was a complete failure during our time. Organizations keep the GC scene running by supporting the teams, but no matter how successful they are, it's still a financial disaster. Sure, orgs can’t live off prize pools alone - but if you win it all, you expect to be able to break even. The broadcasts for our GC games were unacceptable. Audio broken. Streams lagging. Impossible to pitch to sponsors. Prize pools were a joke - only two EU slots for global events. Riot did not care. Period. We spent another €300k doing our part to grow the Gamechanger scene. And for what? For nothing. We did all this because we believed we were building something meaningful for fans and players. It is still our fault. We should have left earlier. We could have saved 50% of the budget and invested in Counter-Strike. We should also have done a better job securing sponsorships and hiring a larger sales team; instead, we focused on investing in our teams. We signed the best players we could. We owed it to our fans to provide the best possible rosters. In year two, Riot spat in the face of every T2 org by reducing the franchise partnership (for Ascension winners) from 2 years to 1 year only - a catastrophe for everyone involved. A year later, the system changes again, with new rules and new stakes. How is any organization outside of the franchise supposed to build success in a constantly changing system? Sharing this might help others avoid making the same mistake and invest in titles, systems, and events that are worth it. We spent 1.5Mio€ over 2 years in a broken system because we loved the esport & the community, and because we believed Riot would improve the system. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, '𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲.” Yes. Absolutely, we should. We deserve to poke some fun at it. To be a bit edgy and cringe. We deserve to highlight the broken scene, to ragebait, to shed some light on it, finally. If it costs us some of our image, so be it. At least people see it. At least people talk about it. If there’s even a slight chance that it sparks change, then every post, every joke, every rant was worth it. Peace.