The venue for the Game Changers Championship 2023 was revealed but the fact that the venue only seats 150 has disappointed the community.
Riot Games announced that the Game Changers Championship - an international VALORANT offline tournament for women and marginalized genders - would be returning in 2023. The 2023 Game Changers Championship will take place at the esports arena at Riot Studios in São Paulo, Brazil, from Nov 28 to Dec 3. They also announced the breakdown of the number of teams participating.
However, both of these have not been well-received by the VALORANT community.
The venue for the event seats only 150 people
The venue announced by Riot in São Paulo can only seat 150 people, according to Liquipedia. In contrast, VCT Champions 2022's venue could hold up to 6,500 and VCT LOCK//IN's venue seated up to 11,000. The number for 2023's Game Changer Championship is a comedown from 2022's event, with about 180 seats. In fact, last year, within minutes of tickets going on sale, several people were put on a waitlist.
Unfortunately, this year, it's only gotten worse. And the VALORANT community is not happy. Several professionals, both players in Game Changers and others have made their displeasure clear. Here are some of their reactions.
While the low number of seats was one issue, another criticism several people voiced was with the number of slots staying the same. North America and EMEA are the only two regions to receive more than one slot and despite the increasing investment by several esports teams in Game Changers, the number of slots has not been changed this year.
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Riot's response to the criticism from the VALORANT community
Riot's Global Head of VALORANT Esports, Leo Faria, responded to the criticism in a comment on Twitter.
Faria stood by the choice of venue for the event and stated Riot wants 'women playing at Masters and Champions.
So Riot's directive is quite clear. They want to help support the women's scene but just so that women can participate on an equal footing with men. Game Changers is a wonderful opportunity for women to showcase their skills and compete against other women. There is a good chance, in the future, women might join VCT teams and participate in the VCT Champs.
For more information about VALORANT Game Changers and other events, esports.gg has you covered.
