The official League of Legends Weibo account has revealed that an announcement regarding VALORANT will happen on September 5th. This lines up with China’s recently-revealed inclusion in a VCT Last Chance Qualifier.
While VALORANT has been out for nearly a year and three months, the game has yet to release in one of the biggest markets on the globe - China. The Chinese government is notoriously strict about content that gets released in their nation, and VALORANT is no different. However, it appears we might finally be getting somewhere, as the official League of Legends Weibo account has revealed that there will be an announcement regarding the game on September 5th.
VALORANT's current circumstances in China
China, is of course, one of the dominant esports nations when they get a chance. In League of Legends, they've won two of the last three World Championships. In DOTA they're strong, and have produced top-level talent in games like Overwatch and CS:GO. If they take to VALORANT, we could see new international threats rise up.
VALORANT already has a small scene in China, even with the game not released. Teams play on Hong Kong servers, and have hosted tournaments with Japanese and Korean teams participating. Typically, they've beaten the Japanese rosters and fallen behind the Korean ones. Multiple large organizations are invested, including LPL giants EDward Gaming and Invictus Gaming. Start-ups KONE and Totoro Gaming also field top teams.
Several days ago, it was leaked that China would be getting several slots in the APAC Last Chance Qualifier, with the top team of that event going to Champions. Not long after, it was made official. China will be getting a chance to play at Champions, which seems to line up with this announcement. The APAC LCQ begins on October 13th, if the idea is to have the game released before their official inclusion in the VALORANT Champions Tour.
Will we see VALORANT fully released?
It is worth noting that the Weibo post does not specify what is being announced. With VALORANT in the state it's in in China, it seems likely that it'll be the launch of the game there, or at least a timeframe for that. But nothing is confirmed, and all we know is that an announcement is happening.
Stay tuned to Esports.gg for the latest VALORANT news and updates.
