Global Esports and Bleed eSports pulled out of talks about a strategic partnership for the Pacific international Valorant league due to Riot Games’ regulations, multiple sources told Dexerto.
The two organizations were in discussions about the possibility of joining forces for the Valorant league and competing as “GE BLEED”. The deal, sources said, was valued at $6 million.
However, talks came to an end after Riot informed the partnered organizations of the restrictions in place in the league. The developer will impose tight regulations on strategic partnerships with outside competing organizations to avoid potential conflicts, and will have final say on whether such deals can go through.
A deal of this nature was struck in May between Dota 2 giants OG Esports and UK esports organization LDN UTD. The partnership saw LDN UTD’s Valorant team rebranded to OG LDN UTD, who competed in VCT EMEA Stage 2 Challengers and in the last-chance qualifier for Valorant Champions 2022.
Contacted by Dexerto, Global Esports co-founder and CEO Rushindra Sinha said: “I can’t talk about any ongoing deals or discussions, but there are a few interesting discussions. We will be happy to share details when anything materializes.”
Global Esports are one of the ten organizations with which Riot Games has partnered for the Pacific international league — a landmark moment for the Indian organization, founded in 2017. Global Esports have the country’s most famous Valorant player, Ganesh ‘SkRossi’ Gangadhar.
Sources said that Global Esports are currently in talks with other potential strategic partners and have met with venture capitalists about the possibility of launching a Series A funding round.
“We have been in talks with some of the best Valorant players in the world (and their agents) – we’re doing what we can to ensure we bring value to our region and the entire fanbase we have from South Asia cheering for us!” Mr. Sinha recently wrote on Twitter.
“We’re here to stay and we’re here to make our mark! We have 25% of the world’s population to represent from South Asia. This region will also be home to the next billion gamers – so we’re going to do our best.”
Bleed eSports are currently weighing up their options in the Valorant scene after parting ways with their team — which included former G2 Esports member Jacob ‘pyth’ Mourujärvi — in August.
On September 19, Bleed CEO Mervyn Goh revealed that the organization had not applied for a partnership slot due to “an ongoing merger and acquisitions deal”. This deal, sources said, is unrelated to the discussions that were taking place with Global Esports.
Without a partnership spot, Bleed will have to fight their way to the international league via the Ascension tournament. The Singaporean organization will seemingly spare no expense to put a winning team together, having offered OpTic Gaming’s unrestricted free agent Jaccob ‘yay’ Whiteaker a $1 million-a-year contract to play for the team, according to VLR.gg reporter Seulgi.
On The Richard Lewis Show, yay talked about his situation and the interest in his services, saying that he was offered a “ludicrous” amount of money by an unspecified APAC organization. “It was like 1 million per year,” he said.
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