The event will feature more than 200 regional competitions in the next four months, with the winning teams from local events advancing to the National Final. The victorious teams in the National Final will then represent their countries in the World Final, set to take place at the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul from November 19th-24th, the same venue as VALORANT Champions 2022.

For the Campus Clutch event, Red Bull has confirmed that it will maintain partnerships with Intel NUC, AGON by AOC, and BACKFORCE. Intel NUC will supply its range of PCs, while BACKFORCE will provide gaming chairs, and AOC will offer its AGON gaming monitors.

This collaboration further strengthens Red Bull’s existing partnership with Riot Games, the publisher and developer of VALORANT. The company had previously extended its partnership with Riot Games for the VALORANT Champions Tour EMEA in April 2023, continuing as an official partner of the league.

The Red Bull Campus Clutch first started in 2021, attracting participation from 50 countries and over 25,000 students. The tournament serves as a platform for amateur talent to showcase their skills, and it has seen notable success stories in the past, such as 2021 tournament MVP Mohamed ‘shalaby‘ Shalaby, who joined Team Vitality, and Indonesian player Oliver ‘m0rea‘ Wangge, who won a gold medal at the 2023 South East Asian Games.

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Twisten, known for his exceptional skills as a Jett player, had been struggling with depression and had previously sought treatment at a mental health hospital. Team Vitality, the team he played for, announced his death on July 7, 2023. This tribute by Riot Games marks the second time the developer has paid homage to a recently deceased professional player, with the first tribute being for Gizem ‘Luie‘ Harmankaya, who died in the Turkish earthquakes, in the previous Battle Pass.

The upcoming Episode 7 Act 1 Battle Pass in Valorant will feature Twisten‘s in-game name as a Player Title. This title can be obtained by players through the free version of the Battle Pass after reaching the fifth tier.

Similarly, Luie‘s Player Title was also made available in the previous Battle Pass. Riot Games aims to allow players to remember and honor these talented players through these in-game tributes.

Following Twisten‘s passing, various community figures expressed their support by pledging donations to mental health charities. Prior to his death, Twisten himself had initiated a charity drive during the VCT LOCK//IN event, donating a fixed amount for each Shorty kill. The community has kept this charity drive alive during VCT Masters Tokyo and has raised over $6,000 for the cause. This showcases the collective effort to remember Twisten and support mental health initiatives in his honor.

By unlocking the Player Title in Valorant, players can continue to pay tribute to Twisten. The release of the new Episode, scheduled for June 27, will allow players to obtain this title and commemorate the talented player’s legacy. It signifies a way for the community to come together and remember Twisten‘s contributions to the game while promoting the importance of mental health awareness.

Twisten Dies Aged 19!

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Esports has garnered immense popularity, appealing to people of all ages, genders, races, and cultures. Incredibly, 90% of Gen Z individuals are enthusiastic gamers.

Mastercard has announced its extended support for esports by expanding its sponsorship from Riot Games‘ League of Legends to include the rapidly growing esport, VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT). This collaboration strengthens Mastercard‘s longstanding partnership with Riot Games, the publisher of Valorant. In 2018, Mastercard became the first global sponsor of League of Legends, the world’s largest esport. The gaming and esports industry has continued to thrive since then and is projected to generate over $325 billion in annual revenue by 2026. This partnership offers opportunities to connect with new and highly engaged audiences, enhancing their experiences with the sport both in-person and digitally.

Mastercard‘s impactful entry into the VCT community is scheduled for later this summer. The pinnacle will be Valorant Champions 2023, where the best Valorant teams worldwide will gather in Los Angeles, the birthplace of Riot Games. This event presents an ideal occasion to demonstrate support for VCT, particularly during the esport’s inaugural international tournament in North America, where esports fandom will be at an all-time high.

Valorant, known for its strategic gameplay, teamwork, and character development, stands out as the most gender-diverse game in esports. The VCT Game Changers circuit within Valorant aims to promote diversity in the upper echelons of the sport, acting as a stepping-stone for women’s participation.

Throughout the years, Mastercard has built a robust sponsorship portfolio in women’s sports, including initiatives like Women in Rugby, the National Women’s Soccer League, and sponsorship of numerous female athletes worldwide.

Here is the comments on the partnership from both sides:

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Twisten stated that he had been dealing with depression for some time and had received treatment at a hospital for self-harming behavior in February 2023.

Karel “Twisten” Ašenbrener (December 4, 2003 – June 6, 2023) was a Czech player for the likes of BIG and Team Vitality. Twisten was the youngest member of the VCT 2023. He never experienced any championship with Team Vitality but he managed to win most of the tournaments that he participated in with BIG.

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BBL Queens showed an amazing performance by not losing even a single match until the Grand Final.

Here is the résumé of the Grand Final:

Because of the rules, BBL Queens had two map bans, which are BIND and HAVEN. After that, they chose PEARL and LOTUS. On the other hand, G2 Gozen chose ASCENT and SPLIT. Thus, FRACTURE became the decider.

By their dominance in the PEARL, G2 Gozen closed the first half 9-3 and won the map with a score of 13-5.

In the ASCENT G2 closed the first half 7-5, but BBL Queens succeeded in making the score even. However, G2 Gozen won the map 15-13 in overtime.

The third map, which is LOTUS, was the last chance for BBL. In their own map, the first half was 6-6, but BBL made it 13-9 with Vania‘s huge performance. Vania got 306 ACS in the third map and showed that they were not over yet.

In Split, BBL Queens closed the first half 8-4 and won the map 13-5. They were ambitious, and their hopes got even higher.

The fifth and last map was FRACTURE, which wasn’t played in EMEA GC 2023 SERIES 1 by either BBL Queens or G2 Gozen. G2 Gozen closed the first half 7-5 and won the Grand Final with a score of 13-9. Mary, who got 327 ACS, was the heroine for G2 Gozen.

As expected, G2 Gozen‘s entry player, Mary, is chosen MVP.

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Including 10 teams, VALORANT Champions Tour 2023: EMEA League came to end after the Turkish derby. FUT Esports and BBL Esports clashed to advance to the play-offs. While these two teams were competing against each other in Berlin, their fans were watching the game in two different watchparty area. BBL Esports organized a watchparty in Volkswagen Arena while FUT Esports organized in Harbiye Open Air Theater.

Both teams had to win the derby to reach to 4 wins in the league. The maps of the match were Pearl, Haven and Split. FUT Esports won the Pearl map of their choice 13-5 and the Haven map of BBL‘s choice 13-7, winning the match 2-0.

Besides the derby, there were concerts in two watchparties. Anıl Piyancı and Can Bonomo showed up in FUT FEST while Cakal,Reckol and Reynmen showed up in BBL‘s watchparty. BBL Esports event was followed by about 2,500 fans while there were approximately 4,000 people in FUT FEST.

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Challengers Ascension: PACIFIC

Group Stage: June 28 – July 4
Playoffs: July 7-9
Playoff Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Through this event, VALORANT Esports will be in Bangkok, Thailand, where all 10 days of competition will be broadcast live to a studio audience. Each of the 10 Challenger leagues in the PACIFIC area will send one team to the Ascension Tournament. There will be a Single Round Robin competition with BO3 matches amongst the 10 teams divided into 2 groups.

Challengers Ascension: EMEA

Group Stage: June 30 – July 4
Playoffs: July 13-16
Playoff Location: Berlin, Germany

There will be ten teams in Ascension EMEA, nine of which will qualify by winning their respective EMEA Challengers Leagues and one through the Play-In Tournament. Online Group Stage will start the competition and reduce the field to 4 teams. The top two teams from each group will proceed to the playoff round during the group round of a Single Round Robin tournament. The Playoffs will feature a Single Elimination Bracket featuring a Best-of-Five finals will take place at the VCT EMEA Coliseum in Berlin.

Challengers Ascension: AMERICAS

Dates: June 30th – July 9th
Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Ascension will feature six teams in the Americas, including two each from the Challenger Leagues of North America and Brazil, one from LATAM South, and one from LATAM North. In two distinct venues, all competing teams will face off in São Paulo, Brazil. The competition will start in the VALORANT Brazil studio.

Teams who qualify will be divided into two groups of three teams. The Single Round Robin format used in the Group Stage will seed each team into the Double Elimination Playoff tournament. The top 2 teams will receive byes and start in the second round, while the other 4 teams will start in the first round. All teams will start in the Upper Bracket. The Grand Finals will be Best-of-Five, while all matches in the Playoffs will be Best-of-Three.

VALORANT published an announcement about new tournament system:

“This year more than twenty Challenger Leagues provided organized competitions that helped develop the next generation of VALORANT talent. A robust Challenger ecosystem is imperative to ensuring the most talented teams and pros in esports select VALORANT as the game where they dedicate their time and effort. Ascension represents the culmination of our first ever Challengers Season and we think this tournament series has the potential to become one of the most exciting events on our calendar. We’re excited to share these details with all of you and we’ll be listening closely to hear your thoughts on the tournament.”

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Dylan will take over as CEO of Riot Games from Nicolo Laurent, who has served in the position for the past 14 years, including six as CEO.

Dylan began working for Riot in 2011 as the Chief Financial Officer before being promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2014. Dylan was designated President of Riot after the company’s founders switched to co-chair positions in 2017. Dylan has been a significant figure in developing Riot’s strategy and advancing company’s culture.

The CEO transition from Nicolo to Dylan will take place over the coming months and should be completed by the end of 2023, after which Nicolo will stay with Riot in an advisory role. We’ll announce additional details about the leadership handoff once it’s complete, Riot Games said.

Both Nicolo and Dylan have messages for Rioters.

Nicolo’s message:

Hey Rioters,

After nearly 14 years with Riot, and almost 6 as CEO, I’m going to complete something that’s been on my quest log for some time: Later this year, I’m planning to step away from the CEO role to focus on my family. 

We just shared this news during RiotNow, and you can check out the VOD on Riotnet (video should be up an hour from now). But in the meantime, we wanted to make sure anyone who missed the stream doesn’t miss the news. So, I’ve summarized some of the next steps for Riot, including who will be taking the reins as the next incoming CEO.

I can imagine this news may feel sudden, but transparently, it’s a decision that’s been on my mind for a while. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a long and amazing journey with Riot. I joined the company when we were a 40-person startup in 2009, with the goal of bringing League of Legends to players around the world. And that journey has brought me here, serving all of you, as Riot’s CEO. It’s a story I’m very proud of, but if I’m being completely honest, it’s also been tough. Not the grind, the hours, the stress…I’ve grown a tank build, so I can handle that part. It’s really the personal trade-offs that have been hard and the sacrifices my wife and kids have made for my career, including all our expatriations. We’ve always been ok with this as a family, as long as we rebalance at some point. Now is that time. Especially since we miss France so much, and want to move back.

While this chapter is coming to a close, I don’t view this as an end — I don’t plan on joining another company or starting a new company. I love Riot, and I genuinely believe this is the best place in the world to make games… now more than ever. So I’ll stay at Riot as an advisor, for years to come, doing everything I can to help you win. But, I’m ready to hand the reins to someone new. To let someone who has been absolutely vital to Riot’s story, take the pen, and shape the chapters ahead. 

So, it’s my pleasure to share that Riot’s next CEO will be Dylan Jadeja.

There’s a lot of context on how we approached succession planning and why we eventually landed on Dylan as Riot’s future CEO. Marc and Brandon covered it all in the RiotNow, so I won’t recap all the details here. But, I do want to acknowledge the process. Riot has reached a scale where we knew we needed to undertake a more extensive assessment of our needs and of candidates. For the first time in Riot’s history, we looked both inside and outside the company to find the very best person for this role and for Riot’s next chapter. The succession planning process lasted about three years, and we met with a lot of incredible candidates. When it came time to compare notes, everyone – the Board, our advisors, the founders, our executive search firm, and myself – all had Dylan at the very top of their list. It was unanimous.

Now, I’ve had the privilege of working with Dylan for years, and I’ve learned so much from him. He’s a natural leader who will do everything in his power to unlock our creative talent to do their best work. He’s bold in his thinking and has always believed in the counterintuitive moves that have helped us raise the bar of what’s possible for players. 

One of his biggest strengths? Empathy. The best leaders for the future will be the ones who can lead at scale, with empathy, and Dylan is one of them. He’s genuine and humble in his leadership, but also unafraid to ask the tough questions to get to the best answer. 

But most importantly, Dylan has a strong passion for Riot’s culture and DNA. He appreciates what makes Riot special — great Rioters and great teams, who love players, and love games — and will make sure we keep evolving to always be the best version of Riot we can be. 

There are so many reasons why I fundamentally believe he’ll be the perfect leader to steward Riot over the next several years — too many for an email that I actually want Rioters to read. Just know, I can’t think of a better person to be the next CEO. 

We all know changes like this can create a lot of ambiguity, but I want to be clear in saying that Dylan and I both want this transition to be as smooth as it can be for Rioters. The actual handoff isn’t happening overnight. We are planning to fully transition by the end of the year and will share more updates in the coming weeks.

Please join me in congratulating Dylan, and I’ll see you next week at the Campfire.

-nicolo

Dylan’s message:

Thanks, Nicolo! 

And hello Rioters! 

We talk a lot about staying hungry and humble, and on a day like today, I must admit that “humble” does not sufficiently capture how fortunate I feel. I think we have all had the experience of being astounded by the talent surrounding us at Riot, but to be asked to lead this incredible group of people is a special honor and not something that I take lightly. I will do my best to make you proud. 

I’ve been here for more than 12 years, and in many ways, Riot is my home; a home I’m deeply invested in, fiercely protective of, and grateful for every single day. I feel fortunate every day to work with some of the smartest and most passionate people I’ve ever worked with — people who have taught me not only what it means to be a player, but to sincerely care for a mission that’s bigger than any of us. This passion and deep care for players is not something that I will ever take for granted. 

I’m also really proud of how far we’ve come over the years. It certainly hasn’t been an easy road — or a perfect one by any means — but collectively, we’ve accomplished so much for players. Through it all, I’ve been inspired by how we’re never afraid to take the road less traveled to stay true to each other and our mission. Every Rioter, at every level, carries a large sense of responsibility and ownership over our destiny. This is our super power. 

Today, as we start our next chapter, I’m more excited than I’ve ever been about our future. I truly believe that our success will depend on our ability to empower our creative heart while staying resolute on our mission for players, no matter how difficult the environment or the situation. As we face new challenges and opportunities, if we can stay true to this, I would bet on us to not only succeed, but to set a new bar for what’s possible for players. 

As we look to the transition, it would be disingenuous for me to suggest that I have all the answers and an action plan already defined. In fact, I’d argue that this would be inauthentic to who I am and how I work. Over the next few months, my intention is to use this transition window to listen and (re)learn. I want to engage with parts of Riot that I haven’t in some time, particularly on the product side. We’ve made a lot of changes in the past few years, and with your help, I’d like to take stock of where we are and get a deeper understanding of what’s working and what we can do better. During this period, I’m going to ask for your patience, your willingness to share perspectives, and an openness to new ideas. 

As CEO, it is fair to assume that I may do some things differently than those before me, but I want to assure you that the goal for us — together — will not waver. And that is to make Riot, unequivocally, the most trusted and authentic game company in the world… built by players, for players. The kind of place where people know that everything they play and experience from Riot will be amazing and that everything we do is focused on making it better to be a player.

With gratitude,

Dylan

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Team Heretics right now have a dismal 1-5 record and are at the bottom of the EMEA rankings. Since the team’s inception, there have been internal problems, with head coach Neil “neilzinho” Finlay citing “leadership issues” in the months leading up to LOCK//IN, where the team lost in the opening round.

Riardas “Boo” Lukaevius was first appointed as the team IGL after guiding LDN UND to surprising victory during 2022. But when league began, zeek was in the captain’s chair. An impressive victory over Karmine Corp for the Heretics team turned out to be a fleeting one as they soon realized they had little chance of making the playoffs. Since there can not be change in rosters, Heretics found themselves in same situation with Karmine Corp. They had no options but taking a coach as asubstitute. Weber, played his last official match in 2020 during the First Strike qualifiers. Now there are just three match lefts for Heretics in league against Giants Gaming, KOI and Team Vitality. Even though they qualify for Champions, they will have to play with the players actively on roster.

Active Roster of Team Heretics:

• Ričardas “Boo” Lukaševičius
•  Oscar “Mixwell” Cañellas
• Auni “AvovA Chahade
• Brandon “weber” Weber
• Cista “keloqz” Wassim
• Neil “neilzinho” Finlay (Head coach)
• Aleksander “zeek” Zygmunt (Substitute)

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Fenerbahçe Espor has already added two more names to its Türk Birlik League squad, in addition to its players. Muhammed “m1tez” and Eren “Rose” Erzan joined the team. Alp “sw4y” Özkuvancı was recruited as an assistant coach to the coaching staff. Falperenity will serve as an analyst.

Fenerbahçe Espor’s Announced Squad:

• Bartu “Best” Keskin
• Zafer “w0zzip” Güngör
• Eren “sturNN” Oduncular
• Muhammed “m1tez” Tezcan
• Eren “Rose” Erzan
• Mert “Mykoz” Demirci (Sub)
• Burak Emirhan “4woodanet” Asrak (Sub)
• Ümit “Omitboss” Boz (Head Coach)
• Alp “sw4y” Özkuvancı (Asistant Coach)
• Falperenity (Analist)

Best

Bartu ‘Best’ Keskin is a Turkish-born VALORANT esports player who has been playing for Fenerbahçe Esports since January 2, 2023. Best previously played for Yellow team and their last match was against Galatasaray Esports team on March 1, 2023. Currently, Best has a rating of 0.87 after a total of 329 rounds played.

w0zzip

Zafer Güngör aka w0zzip, is a 16-year-old Turkish VALORANT player. He started his career with XFlow Esports in 2021. He then played for Beleaguers, Gringo Esports and Dark Passage teams. In the new year, he will play under the umbrella of Fenerbahçe Esports. Golden Goose,
Won titles in the Valcord Cup and Lidomo Esports VALORANT tournament.

m1tez

Muhammed Tezcan aka m1tez is a 22 year old Turkish VALORANT player. He started his career with looking4org in September 2020. He later played for Oxygen Esports, Galacticos and VLGaming Esports. After 3 months with WL Gaming, he signed with Fenerbahçe Espor. In the past years, he became the champion in RYZEN 4000 Cup. They successfully exited the VCT 21 Türkiye Stage Challengers.

Rose

Eren Erzan aka Rose is a Turkish VALORANT player. He started his career in September 2021 with the Fire Flux Young team. He then signed with Surreal Esports in the last months of 2022. The player, who could not hold on there much, transferred to New Boss Esports at the beginning of last month. Now, his paths crossed with Fenerbahçe. VALORANT Community Cup, FEL Valorant CUP, Open Fire Last Call VALORANT inv. He won first place in such tournaments. In the last months of 2021, he was the winner of the Open Fire Legacy tournament with Fire Flux.

sturNN

Eren Oduncular aka sturNN is a Turkish VALORANT player. He started his career with Orgless5 in May 2021. Later, he played in ALTIN ​​Career Esports and Galacticos teams. Recently, he left Galacticos and transferred to Fenerbahçe. He usually comes to the fore with Killjoy and Viper characters. Sometimes he uses the Omen.

VALORANT Will Allow Betting Company Sponsors

VCT 2023 Game Changers Championship Details!

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