The first international VALORANT tournament of 2023 is set to feature a Mandarin broadcast for Chinese viewers, global head of VALORANT esports Leo Faria said today.
The Mandarin broadcast will be a first for international VALORANT tournaments as developer Riot Games, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Tencent, looks to continue its expansion into the Chinese market for VALORANT.
On Jan. 17, just one month prior to the start of the VCT LOCK//IN tournament, two teams from China were added to the event by Riot to bring the total number of teams to 32. Both EDward Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix will compete at the VCT LOCK//IN, which is set to be held in São Paulo, Brazil.
The announcement of a Mandarin broadcast comes after Faria hosted an event to share Riot’s “vision and plans” for VALORANT esports with organizations yesterday. Photos of the event were posted by Faria today and on Weibo yesterday.
The Chinese market will be tapped by Riot considering it’s one of the largest markets for gamers. Riot has already made strides to implement Chinese teams in international tournaments, with EDward Gaming securing qualification to Champions, the most anticipated and largest event on the calendar at the time, last year. But EDG failed to secure a victory at the tournament after losing to both Team Liquid and Paper Rex.
EDG and FPX will get a second shot at the international stage with the first international VALORANT event of 2023. At LOCK//IN, which is set to begin on Feb. 13 and conclude on March 4, EDG will play 100 Thieves while FPX are set to face Karmine Corp.
