EN DE CN BR ES RU
Image
Icon

Tarik joining Sentinels marks the start of Valorant’s rise

The biggest name in Valorant’s Twitch category has chosen his new home. But what does it mean for the... Scott Kostov | 31. August 2022

The biggest name in Valorant’s Twitch category has chosen his new home. But what does it mean for the Valorant esports scene? 

Tarik joins Sentinels

Before he became the FPS Streamer of the year and the face of Valorant earlier this year, Tarik Celik was already considered the Content King. The highlight of his career as a professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player might be winning North America’s first Major in 2018, but he’s been even more successful as a content creator.

Nurturing a dedicated community on Twitch since 2014 alongside his larger-than-life persona has helped him land the biggest deal so far. According to the official announcement released recently by Sentinels, Valorant’s biggest streamer is joining the org as a content creator. 

Becoming the face of Valorant

Tarik has enjoyed major success since retiring from competitive CS:GO, focusing on streaming full-time and more importantly, Valorant. When the game was released, a huge press rollout by Riot Games drew a lot of former and active CS:GO pros from North America. However, while those players focused on developing Valorant’s competitive scene, Tarik put his sights on something bigger.

Despite not ruling out the possibility of a competitive Valorant debut, Tarik knew that there was a void that needed to be filled. And with Valorant’s most famous pro players being too busy practicing to integrate a regular streaming schedule, Tarik stepped in. He quickly developed a relationship with Riot, who were looking for a marketable face to endorse the game. 

Major step for Valorant

Tarik’s connections and established brand were easy to build upon, and Riot did the right play by giving him co-streaming rights. His watch parties would always outdo the main broadcast in terms of viewership, with notable figures regularly tuning in. With Valorant Champions kicking off today in Istanbul, Tarik now has an organization to back him up in his next step.

And it makes perfect sense, considering he is of Turkish descent and the Valorant’s biggest brand, joining one of the most famous organizations on the scene. Sentinels recently hinted this through their Twitter, but nobody could expect that they would be sending Tarik to Istanbul to stream from the Grand Finals stage.

In terms of popularity, content creation, and social media presence, Sentinels are already ahead of some larger and older organizations. Their CEO Rob Moore worded it rather suitably: 

Valorant esports on the rise

While Valorant has had its ups and downs, most notably, being called a CS:GO ripoff, nobody can deny that the best is yet to come. Just like previous generations grew up playing Counter-Strike, today’s youngsters will grow up with Valorant. People like to meme on Valorant’s competitive draw but they tend to forget that the game was released in the middle of the biggest crisis the world has seen this century so far.

While esports scenes of other games had freedom, money, and opportunity to grow, Valorant has so far been in the shadows. It’s not Riot’s biggest esport, considering that League of Legends exists, and it definitely doesn’t match CS:GO in the FPS genre. Valorant is yet to have its breakout moment and create historic moments on international events just like every esport before it did. And with franchising being implemented next year allowing for a more stable ecosystem, Tarik in a Sentinels jersey on the Grand Final stage might as well be the start of Valorant’s rise.

Header: Riot Games