Riot Games Leading the Pack
With their slew of new titles, Riot Games reigned supreme in the esports world, completely dominating the calendar with leagues and tournaments year-round. Much of the year-end international tournaments of note were all down to Riot events – with tournaments like Worlds 2021, VALORANT Champions and Horizon Cup keeping esports fans riveted to the seats.
While strategy games like Teamfight Tactics and Legends of Runeterra can get away with the production being remotely done, MOBAs and FPS like Wild Rift, League of Legends and Valorant all require much more work to set up and produce. Despite all the travel restrictions and border controls, Riot Games’ esports department pushed ahead, even if they ran into more than a few roadblocks on the way there.
If Dota 2 (Valve) wants something else to brag about other than their ridiculous prize pool, they better learn to catch up. VALORANT and Wild Rift have only been around for a short time but their popularity is already growing in Southeast Asia. Expect them to continue growing in 2022 as esports efforts grow.
Those who dare, win
Countries who are willing to open their borders are going to benefit most from the reopening of esports. Romania gained from Sweden passing up the chance to host The International 10, while Iceland also was the centre of the esports world for a while as it hosted the VALORANT Champions Tour Stage 2 Masters, Mid-Season Invitational 2021 and Worlds 2021.
Singapore, a country closer to home, was also more receptive to visitors. Once a non-entity when it came to hosting top-notch international events, the city state, in 2021, hosted the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s World Championships (M2 and M3), Free Fire World Series, the inaugural Global Esports Games and Wild Rift’s Horizon Cup. As we know, things in Singapore don’t come cheap, yet events are flocking to Singapore due to the minimal travel restrictions implemented and state-of-the-art facilities in place for Travel Bubbles.
While we are very happy to have more international presence in Singapore, more countries opening up and hosting international events would only spell good news that the world is finally ready to move forward from this dreary pandemic.
