Inclusivity with Valorant scored a win yesterday as Riot Games announced their Game Changers Program. The initiative looks to create a fully-fledged competitive ecosystem for women’s Valorant. The program debuted across social media and on the playvalorant.com site on February 23.
The Game Changers program will debut with its North American series as early as March. Overall the program looks to offer more “exposure for marginalized genders within Valorant.”
Introducing #VCTGameChangers: a new program creating new opportunities and exposure for women and other marginalized genders within VALORANT esports. pic.twitter.com/oFhV6Ba2a9
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) February 23, 2021
However, the move has drawn the ire of many of the more close-minded fans. Criticism has come from both Valorant esports supporters and the wider community. The misguided criticism used factually incorrect statements about the Game Changers program. They allegedly worried about eyes being diverted away from “top-level” competition by this initiative. Other complaints were levelled at the perceived unfairness of women’s-only and gender-locked leagues.
Supporters of the program were quick to pledge their support. Many of the initial falsehoods were debunked quickly, and the positive aspects of the program were shared. Overall, the vast majority of the reaction to the announcement has been positive.
as is worth repeating: women's and mixed-gender teams already play in the main esports circuit like in Valorant. creating new opportunities grows the esports community and does not diminish the top competition. those who have issues with this are just showing their own insecurity
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) February 23, 2021
Only the Beginning
Valorant has already made waves with its competitive inclusivity far outstripping almost every other esport in terms of proportion and visibility. Last month, Evil Geniuses announced a mixed-gender roster. Meanwhile, in the WSOE Online V: Valorant Qualifier, Cloud9 White defeated Renegades in a surprise upset. In Valorant it seems, the playing field is starting to level, although there’s plenty of work still to be done.
The fact that there was a huge outcry following the announcement of such an innocuous program like Game Changers is cause for concern. Many members of the community used the opportunity to have their voices heard. In posts across Twitter and Reddit, competitive players contributed stories about their experience in esports.
My long response that I posted on reddit but wanted to chime in here too…
— sapphiRe (@sapphiReGG) February 23, 2021
Also to note, this will literally have NO negative impact on the lives of the people that can't stand the idea of women's events so they need to calm the heck down. Simply put, they don't have to watch. pic.twitter.com/S3aMkYVwMx
With Game Changers, Riot Games has made a step in the right direction. Make sure to follow Dartfrog for all the latest Valorant esports news on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.