VALORANT franchising leads to end of smaller organizations

VALORANT teams are leaving competitive scene ahead of Riot Games’ official league franchising. Moreover, there are new rumors about the squads that proceeded in partnership discussions.

What does franchising mean in VALORANT?

A franchising league system basically means that teams need to enter into a partnership with Riot Games to acquire a slot in its official league to participate in the competition. The new system is coming in 2023 and now the organizations are negotiating with the developer to secure a spot in the upcoming Valorant Champions Tour. 

Riot Games will select teams based on tournament results, brand power and the overall impact the squad has on the scene. So we can assume that fans will definitely see such teams as Sentinels, Team Liquid and Cloud9 in the next season. According to multiple sources The Guard, TSM, Cloud9, NRG, and Version1 went to next round and are likely to be in upcoming North American franchise league.

NYXL shuts down VALORANT roster as well as other organizations  

NYXL departs from VALORANT along with other organizations because they weren’t selected by Riot Games for seeding in the new franchised league. NYXL is a sister company of New York Subliners that is present in Call of Duty League and Overwatch League (under the tag New York Excelsior). 

After the VALORANT franchise announcement, NYXL rebranded to NYFU and competed in open tournaments and qualifiers. The team was competing in MEL Premiership S3 during July, but it was suddenly disbanded, leaving all the players behind. Consequently, players started publishing statements in their personal accounts and searching for potential teams to switch to. 

Another team that expressed disappointment from failing to secure a slot and is Shopify Rebellion. The organization released an official statement, calling the Valorant partnership program “a popularity contest for a woefully small number of team slots”.

On July 20, one more squad announced their departure from Valorant — Akrew. Seems like switching to a franchise league was a death point for many teams of smaller organizations, as the chances to meet the requirements of Riot Games are relatively small compared to such “colossus” brands as Sentinels or Cloud9. Moreover, such a decision will shut down the opportunities for teams to enter the scene for now and left the players whose teams were disbanded in the middle of nowhere as they need to seek a new esports home. 

Header credit: Riot Games