Riot Games’ women’s league and Game Changers tournaments in Valorant have been a success with fans, and for the players taking part. After seeing the enthusiasm for the same, the company has now announced a women’s League of Legends tournament.
The competition will be called Rising Stars, with the first iteration of the event set to be held on November 26 and 27. The competition’s objective is to promote inclusion and opportunities in esports. The standalone tournament will only comprise women over 16 years old. The aim is to start small for the time being, with a prize pool of £3,000 on offer.
The event is set to be broadcast by an esports production team in Nottingham that will include students who are looking to get a degree in esports production.
The first tournament will be targeted toward the Northern European demographic, which includes the UK, Scandinavian countries, and the Republic of Ireland, but players from other European regions can also enter the tournament.
Image Credit | Riot Games
Participants Will Have To Pass A Gender Verification Process
The press release revealed that registration will make sure the gender verification program is enabled. This verification will be headed by DivE, who are looking to promote gender diversity in the esports industry, and have experience doing the same for Valorant’s Game Changer competitions. The press release added that to ensure the safety of the participants, moderators will be around.
The gender verification process will ensure that a participant’s age, residency and gender make them eligible to enter the competition. To avoid any privacy issues, DivE will not record this information on any documents, but will be expecting the documents to be presented as proof through a webcam.
Valorant’s Game Changers Tournament Has Been A Relative Success
Riot’s Will Atwood looked chuffed when speaking about the Rising Stars. He highlighted that Riot Games is committed to creating more opportunities for women in gaming. He added that Valorant’s game Changers has been a great success, and that there’s the added benefit of preparing individuals who are looking to be a part of the esports industry by letting them organize these events.
The Valorant Game Changers event started in 2021, and has been widely praised by the larger esports community. Many of the best teams from other esports games have already made the switch to Valorant because of how vibrant the entire competitive sector of the esport feels.
Esports Can Lead By Example
There is a larger discussion to be had about women in sports, which also applies to esports, and why besides a few sports like tennis, there isn’t a competitive structure that is as effective as those seen in most men’s sports.
Esports is still quite a new industry, so it’s best to start early. Having said that, the esports industry has already been labeled misogynistic, rightly so at times, and there’s no better way to get rid of that tag than by creating a competitive environment for women to enter into.
While other major sports that have existed for over a century are still struggling to create the ideal environment for women to compete in, the esports industry could lead by example, never mind toppling down the idea that the esports industry is inherently misogynistic.
Of course, all of this can’t just be done as a display of diversity. The competitions need funding, and players need to be rewarded, and the structures need to be built around this competitive sector to suggest that real change is being made. The Valorant Game Changers tournaments suggest that Riot Games are in this for the right reasons.
The idea to get students with ambitions of working in the esport industry to work on the production is a solid one, creating a great opportunity for these students to build something, and stick to the women’s game for an extended period by helping in its growth – not just look at it as an opportunity to work in the men’s game in the long run. There is a lot of potential here, and it will all be on show on Twitch.
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