Cover-Credits:
The Valorant community was left astounded recently as it was brought to light that a 13-year-old boy was put in charge of producing a match during a community stream organized by Knights. Social media immediately reacted to this and users pointed out that he was a 10-year-old initially. However, Dot Esports reporter Max “Purest” Katz revealed he conversed with the boy and that he is actually 13-years-old. The match in question in the Valorant tournament, called the Knights gauntlet, was between 100 Thieves (100T) and MELIOREM. According to a report by Upcomer, the original community broadcast ended after a high-pitched voice was heard producing the stream.
Esports commentator Jake Lucky tweeted out the video where the 13-year-old was having trouble with the production process.
After this transpired live on stream, Knights’ event manager Jasper Ko tweeted that they were shutting down the broadcast. He wrote, “Unacceptable broadcast on the community stream for 100Thieves viewers so we made the executive decision to shut that broadcast down. The producer is no longer broadcasting this event as a whole. Moving forward all 100T games will be broadcasted on sanctioned Knights channels.”
Boy claims Knights knew his age
Purest tweeted that he spoke to the boy and the 13-year-old claimed that Knights knew about his age. He wrote, “I've spoken to the kid who produced the 100T stream. He is 13 years old, he claims that Knights knew about his age and they had called prior to the broadcast. Additionally, he claims that he told management that he was not well versed in producing a broadcast.”
Throwing light on the situation, users pointed out that Knights could have had a meeting with an older member of the family. Jake Lucky wrote, “The kid is likely a younger family member of the person selected by the Knights to produce this community stream. They were mislead in the qualifications of the person who produced the stream, so they have shut it down and will be better checking these things in the future.”
When one Twitter user wondered if Knights had a meeting with the kid before roping him in, Jasper Ko replied, “Think that was his brother.”
The issue brought up bigger questions of vetting producers and paying them for broadcasts.
Knights issued a statement after the stream ended to address the controversy. It revealed that the producer in question was the boy named Reid and he said he was an in-game director, producer, and observer. While taking full responsibility for the turn of events, Knights assured to improve its vetting process moving forward.
Amidst all this, Knights appreciated Reid’s boldness and perseverance to take on the community stream. The Valorant community has also been supportive of the 13-year-old and has been asking for programs to foster young talent like Reid.
