VALORANT Game Changer is struggling and Riot Games is the one who needs to save it

Riot Games has been announced VALORANT Game Changers in 2021 to give disadvantaged men an opportunity to show their skills and compete at the world level. This year’s league provided space to grow and feel safe, something that no other title had fully achieved, in itself, was a big statement.

To date, four Game Changers world champions have been crowned; however, the magic that fans and players have experienced over the past few years seems to be gone.

Viewership is down, major corporations are gone, marketing momentum is down, and toxicity continues to run rampant, which makes us wonder: Is this just an expensive marketing ploy, or does Riot really care about Game Changers?

From G2 Gozen sing along to “I Want It That Way” and raise the first championship trophy in 2022 Shopify Rebellion to be crowned back to back in 2023 and 2024, and Natália “daiki” Vilela finally leading Team Liquid Brazil in the 2025 Heroic title, VALORANT Game Changers has given us countless unforgettable moments.

It was a breath of fresh air in the VALORANT stadiums, the Game Changers Championship 2024 reached a peak viewership of over 450k viewers. However, the hype started to die down as there was not enough promotion in the different leagues.

It came to that point that some of my friends, who were closely following this incident, did not know what was happening with Game Changers. Spectators are also impressive, as evidenced by the 2025 Championship recording a peak audience of around 220k, the lowest figure for any previous edition.

On top of that, while the prize pools looked healthy on paper, they weren’t enough to support teams on a sustainable basis.

While some may argue that a portion of the revenue from VCT’s partner/franchise program funds may be allocated to the Game Changers ecosystem, it is well known that organizations often struggle to generate sufficient, if any, revenue.

This has led to one-level organizations leaving the scene, the most recent 100 Thievesfollowing exits from Cloud9 and YFP.

“It breaks my heart to see something I’ve spent so much time and effort breaking like this,” 100 Thieves GC player. Lydia “lidyuh” Wilson he told Esports Insider.

I remember talking with Game Changers EMEA Product Lead Ashley Washington at 2024, and the conversation showed Riot Games’ passion and vision for Game Changers. The publisher has repeatedly stated that they do not want to launch a GC partnership program, as the goal is to give marginalized genders a path to VCT.

However, there are many factors that detract from this view. First and foremost, there must be strong incentives to encourage organizations to invest in scouting and developing new talent. And don’t even get me started on the issue of poison, something that Game Changers players have to deal with all the time.

For example, Ava ‘florescent’ Eugene made history by joining Apeks in VCT EMEA; however, she not only faced burnout from the pressure of competition and scrutiny, but also, while competing on stage, faced sexist comments in interviews.

Furthermore, even after her name has been cleared of sexual harassment allegations, she continues to be harassed by unemployed people who can safely bark behind their keyboards. There are countless other examples, but I won’t dive into them all in this piece.

Finally, few Game Changers are fully capable of competing with male players in VCT. However, some don’t even get a chance to trial because certain players or staff are not comfortable playing with them. Just imagine! It’s 2026, too this is still one of the problems faced by talented players like Melanie ‘meL’ Capone.

“I’ve been denied opportunities to try out for VALORANT teams with a number of co-opted players over the years for reasons including teams not wanting to pay me to buy and because I was viewed as too valuable an asset to release this close to a partnership selection when I’m very important to my organization’s request,'” said minaL.

“There was at least one situation where I was considered, but I was quickly brought back to the T1 team that the player was not comfortable playing with a woman.”

In short, the same people who represent the discriminated gender are not always the same.

So, what can be done to preserve and grow VALORANT Game Changers?

Riot Games is already doing a great job with most titles, but there is still room for improvement in a few areas. For example, sales revenue can be increased. And if budget constraints exist due to economic or internal factors, there are always ways to do strong organic marketing. I know I already have a few ideas in mind.

Additionally, the number of mixed gender competitions can be increased, by encouraging organizations that invest in Game Changers, such as Academy or Ambassador team systems. Riot may even organize mixed tournaments that offer additional VCT circuit points, or introduce in-game items with revenue shared directly with GC teams.

Riot Games also announced Award Player Mobility in 2024, which gave World Championship teams a direct invitation to Challengers League qualifiers, and teams like Shopify Rebellion are already benefiting from it.

So, progress is being made on that, and they recently announced that “a portion of the funds will be dedicated to game changers each year.” Making GC part of the Esports World Cupsuch as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, can also be a great move.

If Riot can strengthen the basics while continuing to innovate, Game Changers can truly thrive and bring us closer to an ecosystem that breaks down boundaries between all genders and establish VALORANT as a truly inclusive gaming environment.