George Geddes' Dot Esports rumor column will begin its first episode this week. It will cover the most essential gossip of the week.
Despite rostermania being over for the previous few weeks, the rumor mill seems to never give up churning in VALORANT.
VALORANT esports' future looks bright, with a high viewership for Challengers, a potential expansion to China following the game's approval by the country's video game regulatory authority, and the largest international tournament to date expected to begin in a few days.
VALORANT is a community of sorts that cares about helping others. Here's a few of the latest gossip from the scene.
A VALORANT league... in China?
Riot Games is looking to expand into the Chinese market for VALORANT. When Leo Faria spoke to Riot, the global head of VALORANT esports made that clear.
Riot and Chinese-based organizations' involvement goes far beyond a superficial level agreement for a VALORANT league.
Tencent, a Chinese conglomerate, purchased a majority share in Riot in 2011, and the transaction was completed in 2015, granting Tencent full ownership of the company.
The creators of VALORANT are owned by a Chinese company. It makes sense that the company would establish a league based in China to further expand the game it owns to the local audience and make a profit directly from it.
VALORANT league news in China came days after a meeting was held between Chinese organizations and Riot on February 3. Bloomberg reported that a Chinese VALORANT league might be announced as early as this summer.
Riot hopes to include the Chinese league in the worldwide international or challengers league system as much as possible.
I expect that the system will be different from the regular challengers and international leagues we've ever seen.
What is going on with Ec1s?
Adam "ec1s" Eccles, who has played at the highest level of competition in North America and Europe, has dropped to the second tier of European competition with Human Tripwires in the VALORANT Challengers League Polaris. His team currently sits in dead last with one win and five losses.
ec1s and former Fnatic player Domagoj "doma" Fancev are set to join Velocity Gaming, an Indian team that will compete in the South Asia Challengers league.
According to sources, ec1s has not signed with Velocity Gaming. One thing is certain: we will see ec1s back in action for a chance of redemption.
Once the name is announced, it will likely be easier to name a region ec1s hasn't played in.