More offline Valorant events expected in first half of 2024

MANILA, Philippines – Riot Games Philippines has showcased a new weapon added to Valorant's standard weapons since the game launched back in 2020. The showmatch, Valorant Outlaw, featured top Filipino Valorant players, mixed in two teams, battling two maps while only using the new sniper rifle, Outlaw, last Sunday at the High Grounds Cafe in Quezon City.

"It really gets the community excited. I think this is a good opportunity for us to announce something new like the Outlaw Gun and it's also a good way for us to celebrate moments like friends," said RIOT Games Philippine country manager, Joel Guzman at the event.

The showmatch, which featured members of Team Secret, top female players Alexandria "Alexy" Francisco, Kelly "shirazi" Jaudian, and Camille "Kamiyu" Enriquez with OASIS Gaming's Brheyanne "Wild0reoo" Christ Reyes and NAOS Gaming's Jm "tesseract" Ignacio split into Team EGO and Team PRISM, saw Filipino Valorant at its finest. Forced to use only Outlaw as their weapon, the top Filipino players turned the Outlaw showmatch to a partial showcase of the signature Filipino Valorant gaming style: the knife. Map 1 saw most rounds ended with a knife kill with many Filipino fans dubbing the event as a partial showcase of “Tondo Gaming,” Team Secret's signature play style. 

With both teams taking a map each only using Outlaw, Map 3 was anyone's game with the “only Outlaw weapon” rule being removed. There, teams were free to use any weapon they wanted. In the end, it was Team PRISM that took the showmatch, 2-1.

With the start of the Valorant Champions Tour less than a month away, Guzman shared that Filipino fans should expect more Valorant events in the coming year.

"I think one of the good things about having an event like this is to hype up the community and excitement. There's going to be a lot of announcements for Valorant in the first half of the year starting off with VCT and some other mga pasabog namin by Q2 or Q3. Expect more events to come through community tournaments — we're really looking into grassroots. Expect more showmatches not just with pro teams but also with big celebrities who are genuinely playing Valorant kasi we've heard last year na marami