VCT Pacific 2025: BOOM in, BLEED Esports removed

Riot Games is "removing" BLEED Esports from the upcoming VCT Pacific 2025 season and will be replaced by BOOM Esports. VALORANT Esports says that the decision was made "after careful consideration."

Bleed Esports' removal from the upcoming season was announced on the official VALORANT Esports blog post. According to them, the termination was because Bleed "failed to comply with critical reporting requirements and other key obligations under the Team Participation Agreement (TPA)." The post also added that Bleed had "persistent operational failures."

Riot says that the decision is to protect the best interest of the players and the league. They say that affected players were informed as soon as possible, but according to BLEED, they only got the news the same morning that the blog post went up.

"We are deeply disappointed by this outcome, but we respect Riot's decision," wrote BLEED Esports. "Over the last year, we were unable to rectify [TPA deliverable issues] in a satisfactory manner." BLEED remains eligible for VCT Challengers, wherein they will most likely compete next year.

Indonesian squad BOOM Esports will qualify for VCT Pacific 2025 after they placed 2nd in the recently concluded VCT Ascension Pacific 2024. They fell to the South Korean team Sin Prisa Gaming after a 5-map grand final which left Indonesian fans heartbroken.

Like BLEED, it seems BOOM was only informed of the decision shortly before news broke, if at all:

"In line with our commitment to merit-based qualification, BOOM Esports, the runner-up from Ascension Pacific 2024, will be promoted into the vacated slot," says Riot. "This change does not affect 2025 formats for VCT Pacific; the league will go forward with 12 teams as planned."

BOOM Esports has not yet published an official statement regarding the league changes as of the time of writing.

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