Is Valorant killing CSGO? It’s a fight between Riot and Valve

The esports community is witnessing a significant power shift as professional players and team organizations increasingly consider Valorant’s potential to surpass Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in competitive relevance. This transition raises critical questions about what strategic advantages Riot Games possesses and whether Valve can effectively respond to maintain CSGO’s position.

Valorant has demonstrated remarkable success in attracting established talent from CSGO rosters. However, the game faces challenges in cultivating new competitive players, with limited pathways for emerging talent to reach professional levels. Over recent competitive seasons, while some newcomers have broken through, many promising players encounter barriers to advancement.

NA CS IS OFFICIALLY DEAD, I WENT & SAID IT.

PINGING EU CS FOR HELP, RT TO SPREAD AWARENESS. THANK YOU. — tarik (@tarik) October 13, 2020

Evil Geniuses professional player Tarik “tarik” Celik made this declaration, publicly articulating what numerous community members had already observed. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive maintained its status as the premier tactical first-person shooter for almost a decade, until Riot Games launched Valorant during early summer 2020 to substantial anticipation. The gaming community embraced this new FPS title that combined Overwatch-style character abilities with CSGO’s precise shooting mechanics. The game’s successful reception is undeniable.

When Valorant launched, numerous aspiring competitive players transitioned to the new title. However, the driving factor wasn’t primarily gameplay differences or limited opportunities in CSGO. The decisive element was Riot Games itself—the development studio that has substantially shaped contemporary esports. By assuming direct control of League of Legends competitive events from third-party organizers like ESL, Riot transformed esports into a more refined and consistent entertainment product. This approach attracted not just individual competitors but also professional teams and esports organizations seeking stability.

CSGO’s PGL Major tournament demonstrated how event organization can falter. Despite Valve representatives being present onsite, participants and viewers reported concerns about production standards, scheduling delays, and the overall spectator experience at what should represent CSGO’s premier annual competition. Major tournaments function as CSGO’s equivalent of world championships, featuring elite teams from global regions competing to claim trophies that designate the world’s best until the subsequent Major. However, with various third-party entities competing for hosting rights, issuing copyright strikes against popular CSGO content creators rebroadcasting matches, and sometimes delivering subpar tournament administration, clear opportunities for enhancement emerged that were never fully realized.

Riot’s history as an event organizer gives it the edge over Valve

Riot, conversely, has positioned itself as both an exceptional game developer and a superior tournament operator. Rather than relying on CSGO’s model of freelance talent acquisition, Riot established dedicated in-house production teams, commentators, and analysts as permanent employees. While Riot constructed its competitive empire, Valve concentrated resources on Steam platform development and, to a lesser extent, its MOBA title Dota 2. CSGO was essentially left to operate independently.

When Blizzard introduced the Overwatch League, a franchised competitive structure for its team-based shooter Overwatch, many esports organizations prepared to participate. However, the league’s initial momentum diminished shortly after launch, and several prominent organizations, including Team Liquid, appeared hesitant to fully commit.

The situation differed markedly with Riot’s Valorant release. Riot adopted a more measured strategic approach, and Team Liquid emerged among the initial organizations declaring they would establish competitive teams in Valorant.

Organizations trust Riot Games, not Valorant

Confidence in a game’s developer and publisher carries greater weight in esports than trust in the game itself, particularly for competing organizations. Franchised competitive structures, tournament operations, and intellectual property control represent crucial considerations for entities like Team Liquid. Their decision to avoid the Overwatch League proved equally revealing as their embrace of Valorant. They have faith in Riot’s capabilities.

This trend extends beyond North American markets. Even as European organization G2 acquired CSGO professional Nikola “NiKo” Kovač through what reports suggest was a substantial transfer fee, the organization’s leadership perceives Valorant evolving into a premier esports title.

“Within Counter-Strike, your primary advantage lies in mechanical skill… Within a two-year timeframe, Valorant will establish itself among the top five esports. Counter-Strike will rank among the top eight,” stated G2 owner Carlos “ocelote” Rodríguez.

Although he didn’t elaborate on the specific reasoning behind his perspective, it’s reasonable to conclude that Riot represents a significant factor in why numerous organizations are investing in a competitive product less than six months post-launch. The appeal extends beyond gameplay mechanics, as both Counter-Strike and Overwatch present compelling mechanical foundations. However, neither possesses Riot Games—a development studio that has demonstrated它不仅能够运营电子竞技联赛，而且能够专业地长期运营。Ultimately, Valve’s incapacity or reluctance to assume responsibility for competitive Counter-Strike infrastructure may enable Valorant to claim dominance, rather than the game’s inherent qualities. Riot has committed substantial resources to ensuring Valorant’s competitive success. In stark contrast to Valve’s approach, organizations will maintain confidence in Riot because they’ve established proven capabilities. Unless Valve demonstrates equivalent organizational competence, Valorant will gradually surpass CSGO just as Riot has outperformed Valve as tournament organizers.

No reproduction without permission：Game Guides Online » Is Valorant killing CSGO? It’s a fight between Riot and Valve How Riot's esports expertise is challenging Valve's Counter-Strike dominance through superior tournament organization