Riot pays tribute to late VALORANT pro Luie in new battle pass

Valorant developers paid tribute to late Turkish Valorant pro Gizem ‘Luie’ Harmankaya, who passed away unexpectedly when earthquakes rocked her nation in February, by adding a Player Title in memory of her.

Riot Games has immortalized the Turkish pro Gizem ‘Luie’ Harmankaya, adding a Player Title showcasing her in-game in Valorant. Fans and players can get free access to the player card game by reaching Tier 5 in the Episode 6 Act 3 Valorant Battle Pass, which became available on April 25. The addition of the Player Title was first revealed by Riot’s VALORANT global community manager Jo-Ellen “RiotJoEllenPDF” Aragon, who called the addition “a very special tribute” to Luie in his tweet.

The talented Game Changer player passed away after tragic earthquakes struck Turkey in February. Dot Esports reported that Luie was residing in Turkey’s Kahramanmaraş region at the time the region experienced a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Before she tragically passed away in February, Luie had performed for a number of teams in the EMEA Valorant Game Changers circuit, including Galaktiucos Sirens, Vivace Vista, and Unknownpros Female.

Riot honors Luie’s impressive VCT career with a Player Title.

The Turkish pro first emerged in the VCT EMEA scene in 2021 with Galakticos. After a short stint, the Turkish pro moved to Valstars Gaming Female for 2021 VCT Game Changers EMEA Series III, where the team ended their run in the Quarterfinals with the 5th-8th place. Luie then moved to Vivace Vista in 2022 and finished in 13th-16th place at the VCT Game Changers EMEA Series 1 before moving to Unknownpros Female for Series 2 of the VCT EMEA.

In 2023, Luie joined the local Turkish esports organization Turtuglu Bld Esports before she was caught by the earthquake in Turkey that killed more than 50 thousand people and injured more than 107,204 injured across 11 of the 17 affected provinces of Tukey. Nearly three months after her untimely death, Riot paid a tribute that would engrave Luie’s name in its popular FPS shooter Valorant forever.

Luie is the first individual Valorant professional player to have their name attached to Valorant in any capacity. Normally, player card titles are given to the organizations, not the individuals, even after winning significant VCT events. Several Valorant players expressed their gratitude to Riot for the heartfelt tribute to Luie, posting “W” and heart emojis beneath RiotJoEllenPDF’s tweet. There were others who claimed they felt touched
after seeing the Gizem title in the battle pass, particularly friends of the professional player.

Header: Unknownpros