Daniel Ringland shares some insights on everything VALORANT Esports in EMEA.
2023 is the first official year for the VALORANT franchised leagues and so far, it has been EMEA that has been absolutely dominant on the international stage with the likes of Fnatic taking not only the VCT LOCK//IN at the beginning of the year but also the Masters Tokyo title. With VCT Champions 2023 right around the corner, fans of both Fnatic and EMEA can look forward to more success for the region, which is a sentiment shared by the Head of VALORANT Esports EMEA, Daniel Ringland.
We were given the chance to speak with Daniel about the state of VALORANT in the EMEA as a whole, how the fans have been like this season given the region's success, what people can expect with VCT Champions, and more!
Thank you so much for joining us, Daniel. For all our readers who are not aware, could you just give us a quick introduction about yourself?
Yeah, sure. So my name is Daniel Ringland and I'm the Head of Valorant Esports here in EMEA.
And so what is your day like as the head of VALORANT Esports in EMEA?
So we have quite a large team of people here at Riot Games and with all of the companies we work with that come together to put together VALORANT Esports, so I spend a lot of my time supporting them. I'm lucky to be able to lead a team of really, really talented people. And really what I'm here to do is kind of remind them about what it is we're building, to answer questions when they have them, and really, I come to work to support the team that works for me in doing the best work they can to bring the best possible product to our fans.
And so what have some of the challenges been like since you joined VALORANT Esports?
I've been with Riot for about nine and a half years now. Then I moved into this role in December 2020. And that was actually when we first started planning the 2023 season, so a lot of kind of workers has gone into that. So throughout that time, as you can imagine, we tried to think about what is the best ecosystem we can build for VALORANT and we had all sorts of different ideas. Obviously, we landed on what you have seen this year. But I think one of the biggest challenges was that even though it took us two years to plan, we had to be running VALORANT Esports at the same time. So at times, it was hard to be running a sport and planning and building a sport simultaneously. That was definitely one of the challenges.
And then I think the other challenge, and this is definitely a good problem to have, is that when VALORANT launched, the expectation and the demand from the community that they wanted to see esportswas loud and clear. And we put on the Ignition series and then the fans wanted more; we did First Strike and fans wanted more, which is great because that's very motivating for us. But at the same time, it was at times quite hard to live up to those expectations. That's why when I see fans talking about the Coliseum and talking about the broadcast and everything we've built this year (and people seem to be very happy with it) it's really great for the team to see how happy everyone is with the Coliseum and the VCT this year.
Touching on the fans real quick. There was a video on Twitter of Boaster hosting a last-minute meet-and-greet with plenty of fans showing up as he went around thanking them. Even with Fnatic being an EU team, they still had plenty of supporters. How does that make you guys at VALORANT Esports feel knowing this is how big it has become?
Yeah, this is why we do it. When I see fans meeting a pro player (whether it's Boaster or any of the other pros) and get really excited to talk to them, excited to queue up and get a selfie. Just the smiles on everybody's faces, that's what we're doing here. So the fact that what we're building is working and creating those special moments for people, really at the end of the day, that's what we're here to do. So yeah, makes us really happy.
In the Coliseum when we have our games here in Berlin, after the games, we have a fan signing area where the players come out and the fans all queue up and the players hang around for ages, hanging out, signing autographs, taking selfies, that sort of thing. And the fans hang around for ages as well so it's really good to see and that's what we want to be facilitating.
Speaking of the EMEA, how would you compare its overal growth compared to the Americas as well as the Pacific?
Yeah, I think we're very happy with the first year. We operated as EMEA last year in the 2022 season. We merged our existing regions together already so we had a little bit of a head start, I think it's fair to say. When I look back across the season we had this year, we had some pretty huge hype moments that brought in a lot of viewership. We had some really special moments as well. In the last round of the regular season when FUT Esports played BBL Esports, there was 6,000 people in two watch parties in Istanbul; 6,000 people attended physical watch parties and it was amazing. Some of the pictures and videos on Twitter are absolutely mind blowing. That sort of thing hadn't happened before so that was really good to see.
I think when we had the KOI vs K-Corp game, again, it was helpful that it was a crazy banger of a series but those fan bases were absolutely amazing. And then looking at some of the local derbies we've had like Vitality and K-Corp again, for example, all of these kinds of rivalries are things that have grown but didn't exist last year. We're really happy with those and that's definitely something we're going to be aiming to build upon because taking KOI vs K-Corp, for example, next year's game will be more interesting because this year's game was so interesting. The more you layer history on top of each other, it kind of makes every game more exciting.
Yeah, I agree. When it comes to the EMEA, everyone knows EU is on top at the moment especially with Fnatic winning the LOCK//IN and Masters Tokyo as well so I just wanted to ask, who do you think will provide a bigger challenge towards the EMEA between Pacific and Americas? Who will actually pose a real problem?
It's a good question and it's a hard question and I can't answer it really. And not because I'm just going to dodge the question. But when you look back at all of our international tournaments, I don't think any of them have gone the way they were predicted or not many of them. So what's one of the things I love about VALORANT is that the gap between the best teams and the other teams in the VCT is pretty small. And thinking of Fanatic, they won LOCK//IN and they won Masters, but they didn't win the EMEA grand final. Team Liquid beat them in an upset. And I think all the teams around the world have the capacity to do the same. So who knows? And that's part of what makes it so exciting to tune in and watch every game. So we'll see. There's strong teams everywhere.
Given Fanatic's huge success, what do you think the odds are of them actually winning Champions this time? Can they go back-to-back-to-back?
Image credit: VALORANT Esports
They definitely have the potential to. We've seen them put in some really strong performances, right? I don't think anyone would ever forget that game against LOUD at the LOCK//IN and then they performed very well in Japan as well. But like I just said, they were also beaten by Team Liquid in the domestic final so whilst they do have a lot of strengths, nobody's perfect. And there's a lot of teams that are just as good so I think they've got a good chance but generally I think all the teams attending have a shot at taking victory.
And knowing that the EMEA gets an extra slot to Champions this year due to the fact that they are dominating, is it safe to assume that this rule will be applied to all regions in the following years to come? For example, if Americas were to dominate next season, will they be granted additional slots to Champions as well?
Yeah with things like that, we're always looking to tweak and evolve the ecosystem. VALORANT is still a young sport and something we're very conscious of is we feel like we've done things right. We listen to fans a lot and we've incorporated a lot of feedback. But it's a new sport and it does need to grow, evolve, and change a little so that's a long-winded way of saying potentially. But we always get to the end of every year and look back and think, "Okay, what's worked? What hasn't worked? What's changed? What's different?" and go from there.
Personally, this year, I'm obviously a fan of this rule a lot given that we're going to have so many teams. So that increases the EMEA teams odds at winning, which would definitely make me happy. But yeah, we'll see. We'll be announcing more details about 2024 throughout the rest of the year.
So I would just like to know, what are your personal thoughts on what people can expect for champions this year? What can fans look forward to?
Yeah. I think this is going to be the biggest Champions yet, that's for sure. I think it's going to be the closest as well. And the reasons are is that this is the first year that we've had 10 partner teams in each region that have had a lot of playtime. It's the first time we've had consistent LAN play so I expect that the quality of play from everybody will have improved. And I expect that that will lead to a much more exciting tournament. Also for Riot, we see Champions as very much the big point of the year for fans and as a little bit of a teaser, I can assure you the team there is cooking up some pretty amazing surprises come Champions Grand Final Day so if you're a VALORANT fan anywhere in the world, you're not going to want to miss it.
I love the stage designs that you guys have come up with over the last year. I was at Ascension Pacific recently and honestly, I was blown away by the level of production quality that there was in, especially given it's an Ascension for the Pacific, it's not even like the Pacific League. just want to point out the stage design is honestly superb.
Thanks for saying so and I would agree with you. I think one of the things that's great about VALORANT stages this year is when you look at Pacific, you look at EMEA and our Coliseum, and you look at Americas, there's some similarities that tie them together so you feel like you're watching VALORANT, but they also kind of special and unique in their own way. And yeah, this obviously has taken a lot of iteration and we're always looking to improve things; we're listening to fans to see what they think and we'll definitely keep doing that.
All right, this will be my last question. And I would just like to know who do you personally support?
Oh okay, this question! So put it this way: whenever there's a game that is three maps, I support a 2-1 scoreline. If we have a game that is five maps, I support a 3-2 scoreline. Really, when I sit down to watch any game, I'm hoping that the team that makes the competition spicier wins. And that's because I don't like sitting down, kind of like feeling like I know who's going to win. I love an upset like everybody. I want close games; I want lots of over times, and then whichever team is going to deliver that kind of spicy, exciting formula, they've got my support that day.
You just want to be kept at the edge of your seat, right?
Absolutely! Yeah, yeah.
The VCT Champions 2023 starts in a few days time from August 6 - 26 to determine who will be this year's victor and walk away with a US$1 million.
