The Guard will not be competing in the Valorant 2024 VCT Americas League after all, following their omission from the league by Riot Games.
The move has been generating headlines for a number of reasons these past few hours, firstly for the shock announcement from Riot.
The game’s publisher said: “The Guard failed to meet the deadline to agree to the Team Participation Agreement for VCT Americas. As a result, they will not be participating in the 2024 VCT Americas League and the league will field 10 teams for the upcoming season.”
Leo Faria, VCT Commissioner and head of Valorant Esports at Riot Games, also explained why the decision was made.
The Guard – one of the esports brands of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of English Premier League football club Arsenal – were previously due to play in the VCT Americas next year.
This is because they won the Valorant Challengers Ascension 2023 Americas tournament back in July, which should have qualified them.
However, Riot’s statement above not only denies them, it also denies second-place team in the Challengers Ascension tournament: M80.
Some on social media have called for Riot to allow the Guard’s North American Valorant roster to play in VCT Americas under a different organisation, or for M80 to take their place.
M80’s founder and CEO has also written to Riot to argue why letting M80 into the Americas league would be the best solution.
The Americas Valorant Players Association said that Riot’s and The Guard’s actions are ‘harmful, and will result in lost jobs and lost value for their hard work to earn a promotion’.
Many others reacted to the news, with content creator Ludwig (whose Brew Battles was recently won by Fnatic), urging Riot to ‘seriously reconsider’, and allow the players to keep the slot or M80 take their place.
George Geddes for Win.gg also reported that The Guard are set to release all players without buyouts, to allow them to easily sign to another organisation, while another reporter, Hunter Grooms, said Riot’s initial offering to The Guard as a ‘guest team’ was not the same as a normal franchise team, with a lower financial incentive.
The news comes half a year after Kevin Hitt reported for SBJ that Kroenke Sports & Entertainment appears to be exiting the esports space.
The Guard and others respond to VCT Americas omission
The Guard said in a statement in response to the news: “We are disappointed to arrive at this outcome unexpectedly, but moving forward we are committed to supporting our competitive team in their transition as they look for new opportunities.”
Some of the Guard’s roster – valyn, neT, JonahP, trent and tex, plus coach JoshRT – also reacted to the news.
Coach JoshRT said: “So much work was put into our Ascension winning run and we built a program that would’ve been very competitive next year. Now I have no idea where my team’s future lies.
“No matter what happens, I’m proud of all of these players and what we accomplished.”
Valyn added: “Well if things don’t work out and we’re not teammates next year I can at least say that was the most fun two years of my life and we accomplished shit we talked and manifested since day one. So blessed to have done it with this group.
“Please give us the option to sign all six to another org. @G2VALORANT wassup shawty.”
Tex tagged Riot in a post, saying: “Please give the franchised spot to the players and let an org acquire us.”
neT commented:
Trent also said: “I don’t even know what to say, I guess that’s the end of guard. Don’t know what’s next but to my teammates I’ll never forget the last two years and the story we made together was incredible.”
JonahP also praised his teammates and coach: “It’s a no brainer that all of my teammates deserve to be in VCT but coaches get overlooked when it comes to pick ups. I’m telling you, JoshRT is the most deserving mfer out there. He did everything on his own and will help any team reach their next goal. Do not overlook him.”
Many others reacted to the news, with British reporter George Geddes calling out The Guard and Riot:
Experienced British journalist and professor Richard Lewis also responded to The Guard’s statement, saying: “Just admit KSE wants out of all esports and management gambled the players futures on finding a miracle windfall to keep the esports fantasy alive. Bums.”
Irish caster MitchMan said: “If I understand correctly, five players just lost their dream job that they spent a year grinding for, because the Guard is an administrative nightmare. The Guard is the worst esports org and it isn’t even close.”
British host Frankie Ward commented: “Playing in an esports team isn’t a 9-5. It’s all-consuming and I cannot imagine the sheer disappointment of having some guy in a suit deny you the dream you earned due to their own incompetence and greed. I get Riot wanting to deny loophole exploitation but those poor players.”
The VCT Americas is one of several franchise-like Valorant International Leagues first announced last year.
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.
