First Strike is Valorant's new global tournament series organized by Riot Games, an extended event that will culminate in a nail-biting championship running from December 3 through December 6 of this year.
Starting in October, both amatuer and professional teams from all over the world will compete in merit-based qualifiers to determine who's best in their respective region. Riot Games specifically mentioned North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, but also stated that regions beyond these would be included as well. The victors from these qualifiers will then go on to compete in First Strike finals in December.
Details on the how to sign a team up and participate will come at a later, unannounced date. All we know for now is that the qualification process will be arranged by third-party organizers, while Riot Games will take the reins when the time comes to crown global champions. The dates for these events, or how long the process will be, have yet to be announced.
Riot built Valorant to be the next big esport, and it's already well on it's way to achieving that goal. "The unprecedented launch momentum pushed us to unlock competition as quickly as possible," states Whalen Rozelle, senior director of esports at Riot Games. "We knew that the only way to create a foundation that was authentic to Valorant and could support it as an esport for years to come was through a collaborative effort that included fans, players, teams, and organizers from all over the world." When Valorant launched in June, it garnered loads of accolades, while since then, hundreds of online tournaments have proven the game is here to stay.
First Strike is only one pillar in the plan to grow Valorant as an esport. Today, Riot also confirmed it is expanding broadcasting capabilities for a better viewing experience, growing internal development teams, and partnering with leading industry experts. Also of note are innovative ways of dealing with the cheating problem that plagues so many free-to-play first person shooters of Valorant's ilk.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic gutting esport tournaments the world over, there's no doubt that organizing an event of First Strike's scale is tremendously difficult. For now, though, it looks like Riot Games are not letting it hinder Valorant's growth.
Source: Valorant / Twitter (via ESPN)