VALORANT’s female/marginalized scene, also named Game Changers, just released the format for this year’s championship tournament and has already received backlash and criticism from the community hours after its release.

Riot announced that the event would be held in late November in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where 8 teams would battle it out to see who becomes the world’s champion. However, it would be in front of a measly crowd of 150 max spectators similar to last year’s event held. This format doesn’t sit well with the players as they want to see more representation from countries and believe that based on last year’s championship viewership, they deserve more in-person spectators.

Notable North American figure in the Game Changer scene, V1’s Melanie “meL” Capone wrote on Twitter that she, “isn’t a fan of the venue size or the tournament format–8 teams feel so little, especially when Brazil only gets one slot,” since it’s being held in their home country. She also notes that the team pool should be increased because the scene will only have this single international event for the year. 

There is so much insane and hidden talent available in this community that meL and many others want to share the spotlight with, and the best way is to increase the competition. For the championship, that means adding more teams, allowing for great, high-leveled games and a great event overall, similar to last year’s but improved one level. 

Most pros in the scene hope to see Riot quickly respond to the community’s criticism, as they have in the past, and deliver a quick response on how they will try to improve the situation. These pros strive to promote the female and marginalized community in esports and want to inspire and empower the next generation, but they can’t be doing that if their organized events aren’t being expanded.