From Nov.21 to Dec. 1, China’s Valorant esports operator TJ Sports—the joint venture of Tencent and Riot Games—hosted its first Valorant Radiant Asia Invitational (VRAI) in Chengdu, China. Held in the Quantum Media VSPO Esports Center, over 800 attendees witnessed Indonesian esports organization Paper Rex win the competition against Japanese esports organization DetonatioN FocusMe (DFM) in the final.
During the competition, The Esports Advocate spoke to Eric Feng, vice president of TJ Sports and head of Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) CN to discuss the company’s esports plans for VCT CN in 2025 and beyond and why VRAI is an important esports ecosystem.
“In the previous Valorant esports ecosystem, we had VCT regional competitions, Valorant Masters, and VCT Champions, and we didn’t have a concept of ‘Asian Cup,’” Feng told TEA. “So I believe [the VRAI] is an opportunity to bring all Asian Valorant teams together and compete during VCT off-season.”
Eight Valorant teams competed in VRAI, including Chinese esports organizations Edward Gaming (EDG), Trace Esports (TE), and Bilibili Gaming (BLG); South Korean esports organizations DRX, and Gen.G Esports; Indonesian esports organization Rex Regum Qeon and Paper Rex; and Japanese esports organization DFM.
TEA asked TJ Sports about prize money for VRAI, which TJ Sports declined to disclose.
“For the long-term esports plan, we want to make the VRAI a competition that combines competitive gaming and entertainment,” he said. “For example, we also invited 10 professional players to perform an exhibition match for audiences.
“It’s never been done in previous Valorant esports competitions, and it’s our first time to try this planning, and we want to continue this planning in the future.”
A number of Counter-Strike (CS) players were also invited to VRAI and played in an exhibition match, including Chinese CS player Lyu “DANK1NG” Zhenghao and Ukraine iconic CS player Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev.
In addition, Feng also confirmed that VCT CN in 2025 will expand its schedule from the current January to August to the expanded schedule of January until October. There will also be a special Valorant tournament in 2025, that will be announced at a later date, and overall he expects a larger scale VRAI in 2025.
“Lack of competitions during the VCT off-season is a pain point for us,” Feng said. “If we don’t have competitions like VRAI, some of our players would not have competitions to play for a total [of] four months. Some teams who [did not qualify for] the VCT Champions have not played in a competition since July.”
In terms of improving the influence of VCT CN in the West, Feng mentioned that TJ Sports is considering the possibility of adding an official English broadcast for the competition in 2025 or letting independent, third-party streamers co-stream the competition.
“We’ve been considering [having an] official English broadcast [added] into VCT CN for Western audiences, especially since Chinese esports organization EDG won Valorant Champions this year,” Feng said. “Or maybe we won’t open an English broadcast on the official channel, but cooperate with some streamers who are willing to co-stream the VCT CN.”
Co-streaming has become more widely accepted by Riot Games. On Nov. 16, Riot Games moved the English broadcast of the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) to a co-streaming-only model, effectively suspending its official English-language coverage.