In Riot’s newly published competitive guidelines, it states that all organizers for Valorant leagues and tournaments must toggle off blood for their events. Riot Senior Director of Esports Whalen Rozelle says, “By turning off blood, we allow more sponsors and distributors to join the ecosystem, ultimately creating more accessibility and stability for everyone.”
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Rozelle’s insinuation is that sponsors will be unwilling to support Valorant if it’s too violent. One example of this is in the Chinese market, where blood and blood-like liquids are banned. There’s no doubt blood, especially in games with guns, is likely to scare away sponsors the world over, too. Politicians in the US especially seem to be targeting video game violence in ways that haven’t been seen in 10-20 years.
There are bound to be Valorant players and gamers in general who are disappointed with Riot’s decision. Any perceived “censorship” of gameplay elements carries with it a negative connotation. Given Valorant’s current success in closed beta and the inevitable push for a major Valorant esports league, however, that negativity is unlikely to gain footing. Players will be able to have blood in their own games, but in esports they’ll have to go without.
Valorant releases this summer on PC.
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Source: Bloomberg
