Image: Riot Games

Sold-out Masters Shanghai signals bright future for VALORANT in China, say Riot execs.

While it was a South Korean team in Gen.G Esports that raised the trophy at the 2024 VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Masters Shanghai last weekend, the success of the tournament itself is a sure sign that VALORANT esports is here to stay in China.

Even though VALORANT was only released in China in July last year, the game’s community in the country were quick to show their support. as tickets to the last three days of Masters Shanghai in the Mercedes Benz Arena – which has a full capacity of 18,000 seats – were sold out. The event also garnered a peak viewership of over 914,000 according to Esports Charts, and that’s not counting Chinese viewers.

The success of Masters Shanghai is noteworthy when considering VALORANT only officially launched in China on July 12 last year.

Executives from VALORANT publisher Riot Games gushed about the tournament’s overwhelming reception in a press conference prior to the grand finals last Sunday (9 June).

“VALORANT hasn't been out for a year yet [in China] so it’s unbelievable to see a vibrant, enthusiastic, amazing community of VALORANT players coming out and supporting us and being a part of this event. I think this is beyond our wildest dreams for a start to VALORANT, and it really shows how excited we are for VALORANT esports going forward here in China,” said Whalen Rozelle, COO of Esports at Riot Games.

The success of Masters Shanghai even came as a surprise for Riot’s execs, considering that the Top 4 teams that played in Mercedes Benz Arena were all from outside of China.

The two hometown teams, EDward Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix, only managed 7th-8th and 9th-12th place finishes, respectively. That became a cause for concern as Chinese fans are known to mostly support their own teams. But even so, the final three days of Masters Shanghai still saw packed crowds cheering for some top-tier VALORANT esports.

“We all got a little nervous when EDG, FPX – the Chinese teams – didn't make a deep run. But we have been incredibly overwhelmed to see the arena still packed with fans,” said Leo Faria, Global Head of VALORANT Esports.

The Chinese community’s support for VALORANT even extended outside of Masters Shanghai, as Riot’s execs witnessed the city become a temporary hub of all things VALORANT. It showed that beyond just being one of the biggest titles in esports right now, VALORANT continues to be a gaming phenomenon with its release in China.

“The thing, for me personally, that I find most exciting is actually getting to meet our players. And I think what made this event so exciting was the number of pop-ups and activations around the city that we got to attend. Because we got to meet players not just in a big arena on a finals day, but we also got to meet them in the places where they hang out in their own cities. Having just been out for one year, the team hasn't had many opportunities to meet the players in China yet so this was a really, really special time for us to get to know the community better,” said Anna Donlon, studio head for VALORANT.

Building VALORANT's footprint in China

Of course, the success of Masters Shanghai didn’t just come out of nowhere. When VALORANT was first released, back in June 2020, the game did not immediately launch in China as Riot Games had yet to gain government approval at the time.

While a concurrent Chinese release with the rest of the world certainly would have been a great thing, one silver lining for VALORANT’s delayed release in the country was building up anticipation for when it actually came.

With VALORANT finally being launched in China last year, Riot was quick to integrate the country as its own region in the VCT, the game’s official global esports circuit. While the Chinese region still has a lot of ground to make up competitively even now, Masters Shanghai at least showed that the community there has embraced the game just as much as the other top regions.

“While the season just started this year, preparations have started long before. We've been in constant communication and within part of the plan all along. As soon as VALORANT launched in China, VCT CN was soon to follow. Last year we went through a very rigorous process of selecting the teams that represent VCT CN and to this day I think we're very happy with the selection. Even the Ascension team, [Dragon Ranger Gaming], having such a great performance in the VCT CN proves and shows how the game is very competitive and our viewership just continues to climb throughout the season. So all trends all point to really good signs, so we're very excited for the future,” said Philip So, Esports and Business Development Head for China.

Ensuring VALORANT’s success in China was always a tricky proposition for Riot. For one, it is very familiar territory for the publisher thanks in large part to its flagship title, League of Legends (LoL). China remains arguably the second most successful region in LoL and has hosted some of the game’s biggest tournaments in the past. So, there will always be an appetite for Riot titles in China.

On the other side of the coin is China’s relative lack of success in shooters. While the country has been successful in MOBAs like LoL or Dota 2, the same could not be said for the likes of Counter-Strike. Even if casual gamers in China will embrace VALORANT, a less-than-successful professional scene may well be a major market left untapped.

While Chinese VALORANT teams have yet to reach that top step in major international tournaments, they still haven’t reached their full potential yet. After all, the game has only been out for less than a year in the country and its esports league is still very young. It might take a year or two before we see a Chinese VALORANT world champion.

But even if Chinese VALORANT doesn’t reach the level of success its counterparts from other titles do, the overwhelming reception for Masters Shanghai is still a positive sign for Riot that the community has fully embraced the game. And if such reception can be repaid with competitive success, then China just might become a powerhouse in VALORANT as it has done in many other esports titles.

“Coming to China was something that I think felt really obvious as soon as we launched the game. We saw players embracing VALORANT and it's been a pretty amazing growth trajectory for the past year. One of the things that is really beautiful about VALORANT is the fact that the game is popular in every corner of the world. So we are very intentioned about choosing locations that allow us to showcase the global community that the game has. And China, one year in, it's been just incredible. It just felt like the perfect home for VCT Masters and we hope to come back to China in the future,” said Leo Faria.

Successful VCT Masters Shanghai shows VALORANT is here to stay in China