Riot Games Reportedly Prevented Global Esports From Merging With Bleed Esports
India-based esports organization Global Esports secured a spot at the Valorant International League’s Asia-Pacific (APAC) division. The organization was reportedly in talks with Bleed Esports, which is another organization from the APAC region, and both teams were looking to join forces at the league. But Riot Games has allegedly stopped the deal from going through as there are restrictions in place preventing such deals from taking place.
The Global Esports and Bleed Esports deal was reportedly valued at $6 Million USD
According to a report by Dexerto both organizations would come together to compete under a “GE Bleed” banner. However, Riot Games imposed regulations on the strategic partnership in order to prevent potential conflicts. The publisher will have a final say in such deals and organizations that are looking to create similar partnerships will need to have Riot Games' seal of approval.
Riot Games has approved such deals in the past when we were in the previous Valorant Champions Tour format featuring open competitions only. OG Esports and LDN UTD formed a similar partnership that led to the creation of OG LDN UTD. The team competed in the Stage 2 Challengers events as well as the last-chance qualifier for Valorant Champions 2022.
Global Esports is the only team that has represented India/South Asia at Asia-Pacific events but it has not made it to a global event yet. With the announcement of the new Asia-Pacific league, Global Esports has the opportunity to prove itself and compete at the highest level of play. The team is setting up its base in Korea.
Despite Global Esports making it to APAC events on multiple occasions, it did not secure a spot at Champions 2021 or Champions 2022. With the new APAC international league being created, the team will be looking to prove itself on the global stage. The strategic partnership could have helped the team solidify its team and resources when going up against the best teams in the region but with Riot Games reportedly intervening in the deal, fans will not get to see two of the best teams in the APAC region join forces.