Update (June 4th 2021): The broadcast line-up for the Red Bull Campus Clutch knockout round has been confirmed, including a host of UK/Ireland talent such as Geo, John Allen, Yinsu Collins, MitchMan, Iain Chambers and more.
Update (May 27th 2021): Timings for the Red Bull Campus Clutch final and knockout rounds have been announced.
From June 5th, the final matches of each region will be available to watch as a 24-hour livestream on Red Bull Twitch and YouTube.
The 10 winning teams, along with the Spanish and US national final winners, will move on to the world final in Madrid on July 17th and 18th. There they will battle for a €20,000 prize and an invitation to see the biggest stars in Valorant compete at the upcoming Masters event, an official tournament within the 2021 Champions Tour.
The Europe West world final knockout round matches – including teams from France, Portugal, the UK and Ireland, will be broadcast from 10pm BST on June 5th 2021.
The UK team, Discoteca, includes benzki, Luzuh, Monstrum, Otom and xyN, while the Irish team, called We Go Spain, consists of cmd, LinnyBoy, Milk, mytnemoM and Karokis.
There’s more info including other teams on the Red Bull Campus Clash website here.
Original article (January 25th 2021):
Red Bull Campus Clutch, the biggest global university esports event in Valorant, has been announced.
Sign-ups have opened to university students across the world, offering players of all levels to team up, represent their campus and compete on the world stage to represent their university and country.
There will be four national qualifiers beginning on February 20th.
Four UK qualifiers have been announced with details below, which will all take place on FaceIT from 12.30pm GMT:
- UK Qualifier 1: February 20th
- UK Qualifier 2: February 27th
- UK Qualifier 3: March 6th
- UK Qualifier 4: March 13th
Teams from more than 50 countries will have the chance to develop and prove their skills against players from all over the world, and experience what it takes to compete like a pro player.
To take part, student teams of five around the globe are invited to sign up to compete across three phases: the qualifiers, national finals and world final.
Qualifiers will take place from February until May 23rd 2021 across each participating country.
All national champions will then head to the world final, where they will compete against the world’s finest student Valorant competitors, and on top of that will win a gaming hub for their university.
“Red Bull Campus Clutch is a new grassroots event that aims to take university esports to the next level by creating a global structure, inviting students to not only represent their campus, but their country, and pave the way for the next generation of esports pro players.”
The team that emerges victorious at the world final will secure €20,000. In addition, Valorant developer Riot Games is offering the Red Bull Campus Clutch world final winners a chance to see the pros compete at the upcoming Valorant Masters event, an official tournament within the 2021 Valorant Champions Tour.
New to the global esports scene, Valorant broke the ‘single-day hours watched record in a single game category’ with 34m hours, according to Twitch, last year.
A press release read: “As the esports industry continues to thrive, university esports plays a pivotal role in ensuring the ecosystem remains sustainable and provides a much-needed path for new talent to shine.
“Red Bull Campus Clutch is a new grassroots event that aims to take university esports to the next level by creating a global structure, inviting students to not only represent their campus, but their country, and pave the way for the next generation of esports pro players.”
Valorant has a host of UK esports talent. For example, the separate Red Bull Home Ground £24,000 Valorant Invitational will feature an all-UK and Ireland broadcast talent line-up, as well as teams like Guild, SUMN FC, Team Liquid and more.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
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