It looked like a massive Evo was coming this summer. Last year’s Evo Vegas was massive, with 8,541 unique registered competitors and 14,500 attendees. Then, Evo Japan earlier this year was even bigger, with 9,875 total participants. It was mostly for Street Fighter 6, but still.

By all accounts, it seemed like Evo Vegas 2026 would be insane. However, the numbers are in, and it’s even worse than I could have ever imagined.

The final numbers came in today, and it’s bad. Street Fighter 6 is the biggest, with 2,414 entrants. Rivals of Aether II only has over 1,000 entrants because Ludwig Ahgren artificially inflated it. But everything else has shrunk. Massively. The smaller games have barely any entrants.

As noted by one account on X, registrations have dropped drastically. This is apparently the lowest reported registration number for Evo since 2014. And as the account pointed out, it’s not due to the games themselves.

The first issue is an obvious one: the Saudi Arabian buyout. Evo was purchased by Saudi company RTS earlier this year. The initial backlash was similar to that faced by the Esports World Cup, with fans feeling that Saudi Arabia was attempting to control the entire esports industry as part of its “esports washing” plan. Many see these massive esports events as a way for the country to mask its controversial treatment of LGBTQ+ and female citizens.

But the concern spread beyond this for the FGC. A community that really values authenticity and grassroots passion, many feared that Evo would lose its culture once RTS announced a massive Evo circuit with tons of new locations, including Saudi Arabia. Before this, Tekken GOAT Arslan Ash had already feared that Evo Vegas was losing its prestige after Paris and Singapore were announced.

It got even worse. Evo Japan’s treatment of the Kemonomichi Legends LIVE first-to-10 match against Daigo Umehara and Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II had the fighting community furious. Rather than treat it like a fight to the death, the broadcast seemed to be pushing hype and turning it into a spectacle.

It seemed like the FGC’s fears were coming true: Evo was losing its original culture and turning into another over-the-top Saudi Arabian production. Evo Japan was a bit of a disaster and it seemed like Evo Vegas was getting the same treatment. Evo announced all kinds of showmatches with content creators who barely even play fighting games, making it seem like new management just wanted easy views rather than staying true to the culture.

I believe it’s very likely that the FGC doesn’t feel the same level of excitement as anxiously awaiting a once-a-year epic. Flying and booking a hotel for a lackluster fighting game event that will just pop up against in a few months doesn’t seem worth it to a community that’s already broke. Before, it felt like Evo Vegas was an exclusive club, like a secret handshake. Now, it’s just some Saudi event like all the others.

The second issue is also rather obvious: the event is in the United States. The economic and political state of the U.S. has been a huge topic of discussion in the esports world and beyond. Many esports fans, pros, and staff have been wondering if events should even be held in the United States right now.

Visa issues have continued to be a huge problem, exacerbated by the Trump Administration’s xenophobia. Many esports pros can’t get their visas figured out in time, whether it’s because the team isn’t prepared for the longer process or because the U.S. is blatantly denying them. It’s not an esports-specific problem; important staff from the World Cup are also being turned around at the airport.

But even pros and fans who can get to events in time are questioning if they want to go. Similar to the issue with Saudi-funded events, many feel uncomfortable with the anti-transphobic and sexist rhetoric from the United States president. Minorities and foreigners are also afraid after seeing all of the ICE raids earlier this year, with the Trump Administration promoting racial profiling and kidnapping.

After seeing Evo’s low registration, one Redditor noted: “Yes, a lot of international competitors either already know they can’t go to the US right now, or they’ve seen what’s happened to other people who tried and decided not to risk it. Not a good time to visit the US.”

Let’s just say there are fans who aren’t afraid for their lives. They are afraid for their wallets. Flying to the United States and staying in a Las Vegas hotel is expensive. Flight prices have gone up. When I was looking at hotels out there, many were $200-plus a night.

Added one fan: “Unless you buy into Evo Vegas’ prestige too much, there’s just little reason to attend it given costs when you can likely make a trip to another major closer to you.”

Nobody has to deal with these political and economical issues now that there are like 23049823498 Evo events. Just attend a closer one.

The prestige of Evo Vegas is gone.

I’m attending Evo Vegas later this month and have some hope that the Top 8’s will still be exciting and there will still be a passionate community giving me goosebumps. The beauty of the FGC is the passion. But Evo used to be the one place where every fighting game community could come together and feel they belong. Now, it just feels like it could be another generic esports event.

Let’s hope not.

In the corner of the GENESIS X3 convention, with eight CRT TVs, no stage, no livestream, and no microphone, was a tournament for an 18-year-old game with a $450 prize pool on the line. And it meant the world to the 45 or so players who competed.

This is Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This is everything, especially for Christina “Chia” Korsak, ranked #4 in the SSBBRank as of Summer 2025. She flew to San Jose to compete in Brawl – to prove something to herself, to finally get first at a GENESIS, because she can’t help but feel compelled to compete.

But she told me that if she won this tournament, it might be the end of her Brawl career.

“The win would oddly be serendipitous,” she said to Esports Insider. “With the issues I’ve experienced in the scene, I’m highly considering that, if I win, I’ll announce that I’m retiring from the game. With the caveat that I will come back if the community is dealt with. It’s not an ultimatum. But I will feel I have achieved enough that I can go a year or two without playing Brawl and feel fine.”

This would end her nearly 25-year career in Smash.

Chia has been competing in Super Smash Bros. since Melee’s release in 2001. But when Brawl came out in 2008, she made the jump along with many pro Melee players. All of the big names were competing in Brawl, enthralled with the aggressive meta of its early days – before Meta Knight took over, of course.

It was an awesome time.

However, the competitive scene started to slow down in late 2013 when Super Smash Bros. 4 was announced. With a new game coming out in six months and Project M gaining momentum, Brawl was already starting to fade out. Only in Smash would a mod be larger than the official games. With more technical elements and a wider range of viable characters, Chia was one of those Smash players who made the switch.

But she never left Brawl.

It was always in the background, even when Super Smash Bros. Ultimate came out in 2018. That game had all the hype for a while. The community was dying to know who the next DLC fighters would be and the pro scene was thriving, featuring a prime Leonardo “MkLeo” Perez. There was no denying it was the Smash game for a while.

But there was something about Brawl.

“That mixture of being in a competitive scene when it first came out, being the most try-hard of try-hards. Me, Mew2King, and Velocity used to drive from Philly to Brawl tournaments twice a month all over New England, Virginia… His gamertag was Velocity because he drove really fast. We’d just find any big tournament, getting practice and exposure against people in Majors across the country,” she recalled.

And who could forget those endless summer nights where she’d just hear Meta Knight using Mach Tornado over and over again as Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman practiced? The dude spent hours labbing, calculating exact projections for when characters were knocked back by certain moves at specific damage percentages. For better or worse, that memory doesn’t leave you.

There’s just something about Brawl that made her keep trying. Throughout the years, the Brawl tournaments have been getting smaller and smaller. Fewer people are flying out to compete. Some Majors don’t even have a stream. The Brawl tournament at GENESIS X3 had just a handful of spectators while Melee and Ultimate had hundreds of people watching a massive screen on stage, screaming so loud you could barely hear the poor TO call names out for Brawl sets.

“I just f***ing love playing this game,” Chia said. “It’s weird how it can still trap my attention, even more than the current titles. More than every other game. I’ll get sucked into a Zelda game for, like, three hours these days. But if you sit me in front of a Brawl bracket, I’m hooked forever.”

Brawl is a game of obsession and grit. When I even asked her what the prize money was, she didn’t know. I don’t think she even cared. Brawl is for the community. It’s for the love of the game. The rivalries, the storylines. I’ve always marveled at how games like Melee and Brawl have esports scenes fueled solely by passion. There is really no money to be had, no sponsors, no teams, no massive crowds.

All Chia needed was a CRT TV and long-time opponents to beat. That was enough to take the flight.

Despite the clear amount of passion it takes to play a game competitively for nearly two decades, Chia admitted that some of the passion has left her over the past few years.

While Brawl’s lack of support from Nintendo and major sponsors is what makes it so grassroots, it’s also what makes it a bit dangerous. There are no strict regulations that apply to every event. Crappy people can sometimes slip through the cracks, Chia said, because every tournament organizer has their own rules and bans in place.

This can be a problem when you’ve dealt with “relentless hate” like Chia.

“I have a lot of supporters and people will defend me,” she said. “But there is so much toxicity, and I can’t really reach out to TOs and tell them about issues with people. It feels like a never-ending loop of whether they’re allowed or not. It always feels like weekly discussions on stuff they’ve done to me two years ago at events.

“It’s weird that being in such a different niche – a top 10 player in the world – and I still receive hate and nothing can truly be done about it except banning them from my own events…. If a top player in Melee was harassed like I was, they’d be banned and in the media. In Brawl, it never gets dealt with.”

It frankly gets exhausting to keep fighting to improve the community. And it’s just as exhausting to compete when there are people saying certain things that send you into shock, throwing around dead names and slurs. Chia doesn’t want to lose her competitive comfort game, but she’s getting “too old” to deal with this stuff. It’s not worth her time to compete against someone who is sending her into fight-or-flight mode during brackets. She could just switch to Smash 6 when it comes out and be left alone.

She didn’t enter Supernova’s Brawl tournament last year – despite it being the largest in size and skill – to protect her mental health. She was also invited to a Brawl Invitational last year that included the two people she doesn’t want to deal with, so she missed out on the tournament (and the free flight that was offered to her).

“It just sucks that the majority of this stuff happened a few years ago, but it’s never been ‘handled.’ I want to move on as well. But I want to stick up for myself and other minorities in the community,” she said. “These problem people don’t have a personal issue with me; they talk very down on other LGBTQ+ members of the community.

“When they’re allowed, I just don’t enter.”

When you think of the most popular esports scenes out there – VALORANT, League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2 – you realize that the players retire quite early. It’s not very often that you see pros competing for over two decades.

Even though Brawl has some issues (Meta Knight, floatiness, tripping), players have continued to compete for years. What makes Smash players so dedicated? What keeps them playing the same game for 20 years?

“One way is that, whether we realize it or not, we were trained for this,” Chia told me. “Smash has been around 25 years or so now. Unlike other competitive games that get a new version every one to three years, our wait periods are five to eight years.”

Unlike games like Marvel Rivals, which get frequent updates, Smash has remained the same for years. The characters haven’t changed, the meta hasn’t really changed, and the gameplay has changed. But that’s the only Smash game you’ll have for years, so you gotta stick with it.

And you won’t be alone. With no quality online play, Brawl practice and tournaments are always in-person. This made constant grinding more rewarding, knowing you’d be a part of the community and travel all over the world.

Even while practicing at home, ahead of GENESIS, Chia told me she could go on Discord and ask other competitive players to practice and there was always someone willing. For Chia, the difficulty before the tourney wasn’t really the game itself. It was mental.

She didn’t really compete for over a year as she worked on the mental issues she felt were holding her back. While practicing, eating well, and sleeping were all helpful, being consistent was still a struggle for her. She realized that she would often feel that sense of fight or flight against lesser players, spiraling if she felt herself slipping against someone she knows she should beat.

“Someone will play worse with a gun pointed at your head. Playing during that fear… I have to do that for every bracket set,” Chia said. “Now I track my heart rate variability – lower means your body is going through it. Normal is like 40-50 heart rate.”

She was in the single digits.

You’d never know Chia was that terrified if you saw her at GENESIS X3. She seemed entirely in her element, talking with other pros and practicing ahead of sets. But maybe that’s all part of the process. Part of getting out of your head.

Still, Chia told me she was worried about the third seed of the tournament, ISH, a mid-tier Wolf player ranked around 14th-18th at the time. Chia beat them at last year’s GENESIS, but admittedy dropped some games. R.O.B., Chia’s main, has some issues with Wolf. Both are “sh***y mid-tier” fighters, and the fight isn’t baked into her muscle memory just yet. Last year, Chia had to whip out King Dedede to finish the job.

Throughout the weekend, Chia seemed pretty confident. She said everything short of “I know I’m going to win.” Even other opponents knew. They felt it. Kurobi, a top player from Japan, pointed at Chia after watching her bracket, saying: “Me and you, Finals.”

Chia had won big events leading up to GENESIS X3, but never a major of this size. Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma had previously told her: “Once you have proven you can do it, you can do it again a lot easier.”

But would Chia stick around after winning GENESIS X3? Leading up to the Grand Finals, she said she still couldn’t decide. There were some enticing events lined up after GENESIS X3 she didn’t want to miss. On the other hand, she wasn’t sure she could deal with the drama behind the scenes for another decade.

While the uncertainty of her future in Brawl remained, Chia was clearly very focused on the present. She wiped ISH 3-1 in the Winners Finals. She then faced Kurobi in the Grand Finals. It was close, but she beat him 3-2. The emotional, tiring, and exciting weekend was finally done. She took home $225. It wasn’t streamed. Barely anyone was around to watch her pop off.

But it wasn’t about that. It was about finally winning GENESIS.

After winning GENESIS X3, I asked Chia again whether she was going to retire. It didn’t seem like it. Maybe a break. Maybe a bit more selective with which tourneys to attend. On X, she still talks a bit about her rank in Brawl and the state of the game, but she’s been largely competing in Pokémon and spending time with her new girlfriend.

But is she fully done with Brawl? Is she retired? I’d venture to say no. It would be hard to leave a small scene after you won a massive tournament. It’d be hard to leave a small scene you’ve been a part of for decades. That’s just the way it goes for Smash. You don’t leave. You can’t.

Chia, I’ll see you at the next Brawl major.

Masters London officially kicked off last Saturday, but there’s been plenty of VALORANT esports shake-ups even beyond VCT’s second global event of the year. 

From concerning Game Changers backlash to the highlights (and lowlights) of Masters London, here’s everything you need to know about last week’s VALORANT shenanigans!

A week ago, Team Liquid fans were hit by several sources claiming that Wayne “wayne” Chang would be moved to the organization’s bench ahead of VCT EMEA Stage 2 in July.

However, following an initial wave of disappointment from the VALORANT community, Team Liquid’s official announcement painted a clearer picture. The decision to step away from active competition was not made by the organization’s management but by Wayne himself, as the player later confirmed in his statement.

“The past few months haven’t been the easiest for me. Being away from home was tough, and I struggled a lot mentally during the whole of stage 1,” shared Wayne on social media

“It shows that there is a lot of room for me to grow, and I’ll need to work harder. That being said, I’ll be taking an indefinite break to rest and recover mentally to be in the best possible shape when I do come back to competitive play. I would like to thank the fans that supported me throughout the year, and sorry for not giving the results you expected.”

Wayne joined Team Liquid ahead of the 2026 VCT season as a rookie hailing from Singaporean esports organization Motiv Esports. Although the rebuilt roster finished third at EMEA Kickoff, Team Liquid failed to advance past the Swiss Stage at Masters Santiago, the first global VCT event of the year.

The disappointing international result was followed by an early elimination from the Playoffs in VCT EMEA Stage 1.

To fill the roster gap left by Wayne’s departure, Team Liquid has allegedly signed its former player Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko. While this rumor has yet to be confirmed, one thing’s for certain: Wayne is by far not the only international signing to struggle in a new region. Rookie players, in particular, have reported mental health-related challenges after relocating to another region.

Adjusting to a different country, a new team environment, and playing on the VCT stage for the very first time is an enormous task. Being away from friends and family can also be a major factor. It might be a difficult decision, but one’s well-being should always come first.

Shortly after Wayne’s benching, Team Liquid found itself under scrutiny from the VALORANT community again – this time, for its AI usage on social media. The organization posted a call for participants in “Guess The Rank.” But X (formerly Twitter) users quickly noticed that certain parts of the posted graphic seemed to have been generated by AI.

“Good, but why u need to use AI for this ehhhh?” commented a user on the platform. Interestingly, Team Liquid’s Senior Producer, Andrew “Cav” C., replied to the user’s comment, confirming that AI was used. Cav also explained that he was on vacation and would take the post down once he found the necessary participants.

Indeed, Team Liquid removed the post shortly after. However, the incident raises an interesting question: whether factors such as staff shortages or limited access to content-production tools can “excuse” AI use. In my opinion, AI will always be more convenient than relying on real artists. That’s its only major selling point as of now. But given the ethical and environmental implications of generative AI, I don’t see any excusable way to use it.

Concerning this, it is also not the first time we’ve encountered AI graphics on the social media accounts of top-tier VALORANT esports organizations. A recent example is Team Heretics’ “Final boarding call.” post, which was thankfully met with heavy criticism.

In Team Liquid’s case, we can only hope that the organization will stand by its words and avoid AI for the majority of its social media graphics.

Another concerning incident occurred following the VCT Game Changers (GC) North America Stage 1 Grand Final last weekend. SwimTrek Blue defeated GC icon Shopify Rebellion Gold in a decisive manner, but was met with a wave of transphobic comments targeting its players’ gender identity and presentation.

What should have been a celebration of new competitive heights for the North American GC scene was quickly overshadowed by online hate striving to drive a divide between cis-women and other marginalized genders. Something that has plagued the VALORANT community a lot lately.

As pointed out by many GC fans and participants, cis- and trans-women as well as non-binary players all face barriers connected to their gender when competing in esports. Therefore, they all belong in a movement that aims to reduce these gender inequalities. 

In turn, the only reasons for directing hate at trans and non-binary GC players are if you do not recognize the existence of these gender identities or if you believe there’s a biological advantage in esports competition. (The latter belief also invalidates trans and non-binary gender identities.) So, if you look at the victory graphic above, and your first thought is “How can this be a thing in GC?”, then I suggest looking inwards first and foremost.

“These players put so much of their lives into competing, into winning, just to get scrutinized by people that don’t actually give a f**k about what the scene actually stands for,” highlighted GIANTX GC athlete Nadia “adora” Sasnauskaite. “At some point, it just gets so tiring because how can any other trans person take inspiration from this incredible moment when all it seemingly does is rile up every senseless bigot in the community?”

Others argued that it would be primarily individuals from outside GC or even outside the esports scene as a whole who spread hate in response to the successes of trans folks. Either way, it has once again become evident that we still have a long way to go toward gender inclusion in esports and beyond.

Masters London kicked off last weekend, and its Swiss Stage didn’t go down without community criticism. The Round 2 Swiss Stage draws, in particular, caused major disappointment among fans and competitors, as all four games were regional match-ups.

“Regional matchups suck. Regional matchups in lowers suck a** even more,” remarked Paper Rex Assistant Coach Ashton “Wendler” Wendler on social media. 

For a high-stakes international competition, regional match-ups indeed feel underwhelming, especially given that VCT fans have watched most of these teams face each other not long ago on their regional stages. Some participating teams were disappointed, too. After all, they fought hard to qualify for one of the rare annual opportunities to compete against opponents from other regions.

As a result, some community members questioned whether regional match-ups should be allowed during global Swiss Stage draws to begin with. This could introduce complications in the third Swiss Round, where repeat match-ups are also forbidden, but I think it could be a good change specifically for Round 2.

Luckily for VCT viewers, Masters London’s Swiss Stage turned out fairly competitive despite the Round 2 draws. Team Vitality versus FUT Esports was one of the most entertaining series of the event so far. And with the Playoffs just around the corner, we can now look forward to the debut games of the four regional first seeds!

The all-regional Round 2 draw wasn’t the only hiccup during Masters London’s Swiss Stage. 

Following a close victory over FUT Esports, Team Vitality’s Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev raised integrity concerns on social media: “There has been a few occasions this year, and even previous ones, where a player during a 1v1 post-plant clutch starts to look at his opponent’s keyboard and mouse to read their movement if they’re defusing or not, for an example.”

The post was seemingly prompted by a 1v1 post-plant scenario between Derke and FUT Esports’ Eray “yetujey” Budak. The FUT Esports player secured the attack round by gambling several times on Derke faking his Spike defuse instead of sticking it. Importantly, though, Derke emphasized in his statement that no hate should be directed at specific players.

When asked for his opinion on the matter, VALORANT co-streamer and former Team Liquid coach, Connor “Sliggy” Blomfield, agreed with Derke’s sentiment to some extent: “It’s just LAN things, man. It is what it is. Can’t hate the player is all I’m saying. Gotta hate the game.” 

Sliggy added that he himself taught his players early on to watch for a green light on the opponents’ faces during LAN events to determine which of them is standing inside a Viper ultimate. Both Sliggy and Derke also highlighted that such issues are unique to VALORANT esports as Riot Games positions opposing teams across each other to encourage banter and interaction between rivals.

Interestingly, Global Head of VALORANT Esports, Leo Faria, directly addressed these concerns underneath Derke’s post. According to Faria, Riot Games will add a lip to the Masters London desks that covers players’ hands and wrists. This solution was previously implemented in VCT Americas and is planned to become the standard across all global VCT leagues starting in Stage 2. 

We’ve taken the ten largest Counter-Strike, Valorant, Dota 2 and League of Legends matches traded and looked at some of the key fixtures to see just what makes a match attract more volume.

Every match in the CS2 top ten this week was part of the ongoing IEM Cologne Major 2026, one of the year’s largest Counter-Strike events. Naturally, with everything betting-related, large events draw larger crowds and, as such, see increased betting/trading activity. The activity on Kalshi proves no exception. And discussed in our previous piece, a Counter-Strike audience is familiar with gambling, and across all data made public by suppliers and operators historically, has been the top handle generator.

The most-traded match of the entire week was BIG versus NRG, at $1.44 million. The match went to three maps, with BIG edging NRG 2-1 (13-5, 12-16, 16-12). The other two matches that saw over $1,000,000 in trading were both B8 matches. The M80 vs B8 match ended 2-0, but the second map went to overtime and it looked for a minute that M80 might make a comeback (it finished 22-20 to B8).

The broad pattern clearly identifiable from the data is that close matches (that go on for longer, with more swings) result in higher trading volume. By contrast, one-sided matches (eg BIG versus Gaimin which saw BIG win a map 13-1) barely tickle the sides.

There could be debate over whether this is actually fans trading positions, or whether bots that trade the inherent esports data delay are mopping up – and this is a theme we’ll explore in future pieces. What’s clear from our first data pull is that volume follows both the tournament prestige, and the tension within it.

League of Legends generated $8.7 million across 116 matches this week, drawing volume from multiple international leagues. Unlike CS2, which was concentrated in one tournament, LoL volume was spread across the LEC (Europe), LCK (Korea), LPL (China), and smaller regional circuits.

The biggest match was Karmine Corp vs. G2 Esports at $1.02 million — the only LoL market to pass seven figures this week. Both are prominent LEC organisations with large followings, and matches between them tend to draw strong viewership and wider attention.

The LCK contributed the second-biggest match: Dplus KIA vs. KT Rolster at $867K. Korean league fixtures have historically attracted strong Kalshi volume and this match was no exception.

One notable entry is CCG Esports vs. Winthrop University at $573K in the NACL Spring Lower Bracket finals. These are two names that are not top-tier international organizations, but two keys that we’ve previously identified in Counter-Strike trading were also in play here. The match had a lot on the line, being a Lower Bracket final, and went to five maps, with CCG eventually emerging victorious 3-2.

Valorant generated $2.1 million from just 13 matches this week. The top two markets alone accounted for over a third of all Valorant volume, reflecting how concentrated interest can be around a small number of high-profile fixtures.

The biggest market was NRG vs. LOUD at $417K, which saw NRG come out victorious. LOUD command one of the largest Valorant fanbases in North America, and despite a 3-0 romp in the ESWC Lower Bracket finals, it took the most in trading volume.

NRG vs. XLG Gaming ($233K) also featured in the top 10 and the NRG’s academy attracted significant interest versus SaD esports, in a group stage game which SaD took 2-1.

Dota 2 generated $1.53 million across 11 matches. Pretty much all of the matches were from the BLAST Slam VII, in which Team Yandex scored upset after upset to come out victorious.

The game that attracted volume was an incredible lower-bracket series between Chinese powerhouse LGD Gaming and Aurora. The match was just a best of three, but panned out perfectly for swings and a good live-trading event. Aurora took the first map in 50 minutes, before LGD levelled the series.

The final game was a mammoth 110 minute affair, with the game being closely contested and Aurora (Radiant – green color above), edging the first 80 minutes or so. It was only later that LGD managed to snag a lead and eventually close out the game, and the series.

Again, this fits the pattern of a match with a lot of trading potential. A lengthy, close series, with plenty of twists and a mammoth deciding game saw the price for LGD Gaming to win dip as low as 20c, with plenty of spikes above and below the 50 mark as the final game progressed.

With The International coming up soon, it’ll be interesting to see what volume is traded on Kalshi. The event takes place in China, which may mean that it’s far from ideal trading hours for those in the West.

It’s been over 70 days since the conflict between the United States and Iran began, with fighting in the Middle East resulting in sharp increases in oil prices, damage to infrastructure, and the inability to access the internet.

Before the conflict, Iran’s government focused on controlling its citizens’ internet activity, restricting access to social media and gaming platforms. Despite adversity, members of the country’s gaming and esports community continue to defy the odds as they seek to raise awareness of its fledgling scenes, which are struggling to amplify voices globally.

In many countries, access to the internet via a traditional Wi-Fi connection or mobile data is the norm. For residents of Iran, however, difficulties in accessing esports platforms, game servers, and communication channels remain. Not to mention, there was a countrywide internet outage following protests in January 2026. It was restored, but remains highly censored and unstable.

According to a source who wishes to remain anonymous, Iran’s government has implemented a tiered structure providing varying levels of access. The “white SIM card” offers unlimited access, the “pro SIM card” comes with limitations and platform restrictions, and the “National Network” requires citizens to pay for limited access. 

For esports players and gamers, there’s no access to international networks unless they’ve got access to a white or pro SIM card, or if they’re willing to pay the high cost of a VPN service.

“The monthly income of an average worker in Iran is less than $100,” the source told Esports Insider. “Streamers, online sellers, gaming media outlets, and gaming centers are all facing serious challenges. Everyone is now in survival mode, trying to stay hopeful while operating with the lowest possible costs.”

With sanctions preventing access to platforms ranging from YouTube to Steam, Iran’s gaming and esports media sectors are heavily impacted when producing content. Described as “small and independent, lacking stable income, and operated with limited professional teams,” any kind of investigative journalism and in-depth analysis isn’t possible. 

Instead, outlets producing content have become increasingly difficult. He explained: “Coverage has become mostly superficial or based on translations. There is demand for esports content and an audience still exists, but models such as the National Network and smart disconnection systems act as a barrier between audiences and media.”

The esports industry is no stranger to uniting to support important causes, such as those affected by conflict. In 2022, tournament organizer ESL made donations to the UN Refugee Agency following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and blocked Russian teams from competing in its tournaments.

As a result of numerous international sanctions, legal risks for stakeholders, and internet restrictions, it has become difficult for the wider esports scene to provide any support to those affected. Combined with the inability to access professional gaming platforms, Iran has struggled to establish a stable infrastructure to develop talent.

“The lack of a formal and domestic esports structure is the main reason for the absence of representation at the global level,” the source said.

Despite the lack of domestic infrastructure and support from international stakeholders, members of Iran’s fledgling esports community are breaking out onto the international stage.

eFootball player Hassan Pajani has cemented his place at the top of Konami’s sports simulation title. In February, he won the Arsenal FC Club Finals to secure a place at the season-ending World Finals in July. By winning the Club Finals, Pajani will represent Arsenal FC in the console tournament, competing against representatives from Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, AC Milan, and FC Barcelona. 

Elsewhere, Kasra “Mikey” Mesbah continues to fly the flag in Dota 2. Since embarking on a playing career in 2019, he’s competed at several Tier 1 tournaments, notably achieving a third-place finish at DreamLeague Season 19 while representing Shopify Rebellion. 

It’s not just players who are looking outside of Iran and the Middle East to further their esports careers. The source told ESI: “At present, emigration has become a priority across many sectors, and there is a noticeable trend of migration among streamers and even journalists.”

Earlier this year, Counter-Strike team OxinGame moved to an Arab country to compete on the international stage under the flag of another country rather than its native nation. With players moving away to seek opportunities, Iran’s esports industry is at risk of falling by the wayside.

As conflict continues to engulf Iran, the country’s gaming and esports ecosystem hopes that the small signs of growth can blossom into a sector with greater global presence. 

In the meantime, the country’s industry is stagnating to the point that recovery may not be possible.

“The situation for esports in Iran is not good at all. We were previously stagnating, and now we are actually moving backward,” the source admitted.

Esports in some Middle Eastern countries is experiencing significant growth, thanks to heavy government investment, demonstrating the potential of professional gaming in the region. As the conflict in Iran continues, it remains to be seen if the country’s ecosystem is capable of recovering and reaching a level where Iranian esports holds a presence alongside other countries in the region.

Esports organization Inner Circle made headlines after signing a seven-year-old Counter-Strike 2 player, making him one of the youngest signings in this industry’s history. The kid was sitting at FACEIT Level 6, which is honestly pretty impressive for someone his age.

However, the announcement quickly backfired and became a self-report, as FACEIT took notice and banned him from the platform until 2032 – when he’ll finally meet the minimum age requirement of 13. 

The ban itself isn’t really the issue, though. There was a much bigger conversation about childhood, parenting, and whether this was really a good move. 

For centuries, people have had a pretty fixed idea of what childhood is supposed to look like, and that’s fair enough. People believe kids are supposed to go outside, ride their little bikes, kick balls around, and even scrape their knees. That’s what kids are expected to be doing. 

So, when an esports organization announces they’ve signed a literal seven-year-old, it clashes with that image in a pretty unsettling way. 

The backlash came quickly, as people were quick to express their discomfort. Many were saying things like “let kids be kids” and quickly started questioning why a child that age is even being pulled into a professional environment at all. 

It just doesn’t sit right with lots of people that a seven-year-old’s name is attached to an esports contract. The kid probably doesn’t even know what’s going on. 

But, as more people started talking, the frustration shifted away from the kid. More people were upset at the adults around him. Because, last time I checked, seven-year-olds don’t sign contracts – their parents do. 

Things get a little uncomfortable here, as the question people are really asking is whether the parents genuinely support the kid’s interests, or whether they’re beginning to view their child as a future investment before he’s old enough to understand what’s happening. 

And if you think about it, a kid of this age doesn’t just go on Steam, download CS2, and grind to FACEIT Level 6 on his own. Whether it’s intentional or not, an adult would have definitely played a huge role in getting him to this point. Someone sat him down, taught him the game, played matches with him, and invested time into developing his skill.

When you saw players like donk and m0NESY frying everyone in their teenage years and making all that money, it’s easy to see where the concern comes from. It’s normal to worry that success stories like these can make a parent start looking at their talented kid as an opportunity. Get them signed early, build the brand, and who knows – you might have the next donk right in the palm of your hands. 

Children also need development – they need social interaction, physical activity, and free time to – I don’t know – just be kids. But now, that contract comes with expectations, obligations, and most importantly, public exposure. These are absolutely things no child has to carry. 

Many are bashing on this kid, but this is where it can get a little complicated. People love young stars like donk, m0NESY, and kyousuke. These guys burst onto the scene as teenagers and immediately became the best players in the world. We all love them, we all talk about them, and they generate highlight after highlight to keep the scene entertaining.

But to be a world-class player at 17, you certainly had to start playing seriously much earlier. These guys didn’t just wake up one day and decide they’re going to be the best in the world. They spent years grinding the game during their childhoods and probably spent large portions of their free time staring at a screen when they could have been doing other things. 

I mean, I hate to be that guy, but donk started playing Counter-Strike when he was only four. He even said it himself. And now, people worship him as the game’s next GOAT. 

The kid in question is already FACEIT Level 6 at seven years old, which is honestly a pretty insane feat. It’s pretty uncomfortable, but the truth is that the prodigies we praise today were once children doing exactly what this kid is doing now. 

Still, I’m not saying every talented youngster should be pushed into a professional setting, but the contradiction is pretty hard to ignore. 

You can’t just simultaneously admire the finished product while being disgusted by the process. 

Honestly speaking, this debate isn’t really about Counter-Strike or touching grass at all – it’s mainly about parenting and where the line between supporting your child’s interests and exploiting them for personal gain is actually drawn. 

There’s a huge difference between a parent who notices their kid loves Counter-Strike and lets them develop things naturally, and a parent who sees talent and immediately maps out an entire career around it before the child can even articulate what they want to do in their future. 

We, as outsiders, don’t really know whether this kid actually loves CS2 and asked his parents to pursue this, or whether he’s simply doing what he’s been told. And I mean, he’s seven – he probably still has no real idea what he wants to do in life. 

But to be fair, it’s definitely possible that he just really loves Counter-Strike. Plenty of kids become obsessed with hobbies at this age. Some of them are addicted to football, chess, playing the piano, or even Roblox. This kid’s “Roblox” might just be CS2. 

Who knows – maybe he’s the one begging his parents to play one more FACEIT game before bed. Maybe he genuinely enjoys watching pro matches and dreams of becoming the next donk. If this is what the kid truly wants, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with supporting this passion of his. 

Let’s be clear: we’re not saying this kid can’t love Counter-Strike. Maybe he genuinely likes the game and enjoys playing it – that’s completely fine. Sure, Counter-Strike isn’t exactly the first game most people would want a seven-year-old playing, but enjoying a game is harmless, and his talent is undeniably real. 

But there’s a massive difference between a kid who loves playing games and a kid who is now under a professional contract. One looks like his version of a “childhood,” while the other is a business arrangement involving a literal kid. He has no concept of what he’s agreeing to, what obligations come with it, or what kind of pressure is being built around him. 

The parents and Inner Circle both have a lot to answer for. At the very least, the adults involved made the decision to place a seven-year-old in a professional organization before he could understand what any of that meant. This brings to mind young child stars who end up corrupted by Hollywood, although there are plenty of teenagers dominating in CS2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Smash, and beyond.

And, it’s pretty hard to see what Inner Circle actually gains from this move beyond publicity. You don’t sign a seven-year-old as a talent development system – esports might not even be a legit career by the time he’s old enough to compete. On the surface, this looks more like a marketing move than a long-term development project. 

The kid and his talent aren’t really the issue. What people are upset about is the moment adults start wrapping contracts and brand deals around a child. This is the point where it stops looking like a kid having fun and starts looking like a project.

This, in my eyes, is where the line gets crossed. 

Another Nintendo Direct, another disappointment. I didn’t even bother watching the livestream, and I’m glad I didn’t: just a bunch of remakes, DLC, and a bunch of other crap we’ve already seen before. No Super Smash Bros. 6.

We already knew this, of course. Masahiro Sakurai has essentially confirmed another Smash is coming, but given no details. He only works on one game at a time and has just finished his passion project, Kirby Air Riders. This means he only started working on the long-awaited fighter this year.

Of course, there’s a reason the Smash esports community is anxiously waiting. It needs this game.

I recently shared an interview with former Call of Duty Multiplayer Creative Director Greg Reisdorf that discussed the downfall of Call of Duty esports. What has made this esports scene fail to grab attention despite the games being so popular?

Reisdorf believes it’s due to Call of Duty’s annual releases, which dilute the game’s competitive intensity and integrity. When esports pros have to relearn the game time and time again, the buildup is gone. The inconsistency undermines any sense of prestige or elitism. It feels a bit chaotic.

“It always came up in development: why are we doing this over and over again? It’s always a topic of conversation with the players and within the devs because you are redoing it over and over again,” he expressed at the time.

So, you may be thinking: Why do you want Smash 6?

Well, Smash is built different. Unlike other games, the Smash scene has remained quite grassroots, without the massive production or franchising that other scenes have. It’s less linear. Nobody is forced to move forward, forgetting older games along the way.

At GENESIS X3, Ultimate was featured and had the largest bracket. But Melee, a game from 20ish years ago, was featured right along with it. Brawl and Smash 64 also had tournaments, albeit smaller. But that didn’t stop passionate competitors from flying out for them.

“I just f***ing love playing this game,” said top Brawl pro Christina “Chia” Korsak to Esports Insider. “It’s weird how it can still trap my attention, even more than the current titles. More than every other game. I’ll get sucked into a Zelda game for, like, three hours these days. But if you sit me in front of a Brawl bracket, I’m hooked forever.”

While the games may feel alike to casual players, there are so many differences that the games are practically nothing alike to the pros. I remember playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with Josh Brody. He’s considered one of the best N64 players out there. I beat him at Ultimate. He has spent so much time grinding Smash 64 that he’s used to that controller, those moves, those frame rates…

Every Smash game has its own distinct scene with their own personalities, rivalries, and vibes. It’s always been entertaining to see the constant drama between the Ultimate and Melee scenes. The games and their players couldn’t be more different. Melee pros are often calling out Ultimate for being less technical, while Ultimate fans often call Melee repetitive to watch.

When Smash 6 comes out, everyone will try it. Chia will undoubtedly take a break from Brawl to play it. Melee God Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma will grind it on Twitch. Many Ultimate players will switch over permanently. In fact, Smash 6 may take over Ultimate’s spot depending on how the gameplay is.

But the older games will live on. And Smash 6 will fuel them more. There will be more attention on Smash when the new game comes out, bringing in new fans and players. And that means more people checking out Melee, Brawl, and all the other games.

While Ultimate has often been given top billing, the game’s popularity has allowed other tournaments to exist. Now that Ultimate hype is dying out, Smash 6 will become the game that provides funding, attention, and fans for Smash, providing the other scenes with tourneys to compete in. The more Smash 6-focused events that pop up, the better, since they will also likely have brackets for Melee and other titles.

Let’s just hope there are no characters like Steve. We need fun battles again. We need fun rivalries again. We need consistent top players to follow again. Smash 6 is the Ultimate scene’s chance to feel hype, intense, and passionate like Melee. And that will only make the other scenes stronger.

Last week, we saw a previous king crowned yet again, a rising star challenge the throne, and some good *ss Tekken. However, what seemed like an exciting week was marred by yet another reminder that the Smash community still has its share of weird people.

While the allegations were retracted by the tournament organizers, people over at Reddit are saying that it’s getting harder and harder to defend the Smash scene because of what seems like a never-ending stream of sexual allegations thrown left and right.

And if you’re familiar with the fighting game scene, you’d see all this and say: Sounds like just another week in the FGC! Here are some of the highest and lowest moments, from epic tourneys to controversial issues.

Let’s get the uncomfortable stuff out of the way. On June 5th, the GeorgiaSmash Twitter account released a statement regarding Ryan “L4st” Krichbaum. In the statement, they retracted their allegations against L4st back in May.

They mentioned that a law firm contacted them on behalf of L4st, saying that the allegations provided to them were “largely unsubstantiated and categorically false.”

“Since the publication of our initial statement, Mr. Krichbaum admitted to an incident in 2023 that led to him being uninvited from an event. However, this recent letter states that our ‘reckless publication’ could be interpreted to falsely charge Mr. Krichbaum with the commission of a crime and (were) calculated to injure his reputation in his trade and profession within the esports and gaming industry,” the statement said.

People over on Reddit shared their opinions about the situation, and most of them are saying that L4st essentially lawyered up and strong-armed a volunteer group into retracting their statement, or risk getting sued. 

What bothers me here is the fact that L4st admitted to an incident in 2023. However, GeorgiaSmash didn’t mention what kind of incident it was, but the fact that he was uninvited to an event because of it speaks volumes regarding its severity.

Before this, L4st had already been privately banned from several tournaments in Georgia in 2024, which means that the allegations weren’t new. The details in this case are sparse and will remain so, especially since lawyers have stepped in.

Real or not, cases like these always leave a bad taste in the FGC, especially since the scene is already getting a lot of attention from outside. I wouldn’t be surprised if sponsors see the scene as problematic and not touch the Smash community with a 10-foot pole, which is very sad, considering that it was the first fighting game I competed in.

Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II, also known as “The Bull,” has finally won a major Street Fighter 6 tournament in his home country. Blink Respawn happened over the weekend, where global talents such as Noah “NoahTheProdigy” Solis, Victor “Punk” Woodley, and Michael “Riddles” Kim tested their mettle.

However, in the end, it was MenaRD who rose on top and defeated them all in front of his own people.

Blink Respawn has always eluded MenaRD since the release of Street Fighter 6. In 2023, he placed 5th; in 2024, 7th; and in 2025, only 17th. It seemed like a curse had been placed on him, winning every single huge tournament such as Evo 2025, Evo Japan 2025, and Evo Japan 2024, but he just couldn’t seem to get the title in front of his countrymen.

However, what happened on June 7th was one for the books.

The tournament featured a very hot NoahTheProdigy tearing through the bracket. He sent both Punk and MenaRD down to the loser’s bracket and waited for his challenger in the Grand Final. This meant that MenaRD and Punk had to fight each other in the loser’s bracket, which gave us some of the craziest games of the tournament.

I also think it’s worth noting that there’s only one Japanese player in the top 8 of this year’s Blink Respawn, compared to last year’s 5.

Riddles notably showed up and let everyone know that he’s still him, the Michael Kim, in his match against Lenny “Crossover” Almanzar, which featured a dash-up OD Rising Tackle to secure the game. I mean, just watch this. This guy’s built different.

In the end, though, it was MenaRD in the finals against NoahTheProdigy. Despite defeating MenaRD earlier in the bracket, some adjustments from MenaRD made it seem like NoahTheProdigy had lost the fight against him. MenaRD ended the tournament quickly with a 3-1 bracket reset and another 3-1 to close it out, finally being crowned the victor in his country. With this win, MenaRD finally qualifies for the Capcom Cup 13.

MenaRD is very hot right now. If he keeps his streak going, there’s no doubt that it’s his time to claim the Capcom Cup, a tournament he already won twice. Funnily enough, the last time he won the tournament was back in 2023, when it wasn’t the million-dollar event with atrocious prize distribution that it is right now.

Over to Tekken 8, Park “Mangja” Geon-ho finally shows us what good *ss Tekken really is. While Blink Respawn was happening in the Dominican Republic, SOOP Super Tournament 2026 was happening in Korea, on the other side of the globe. There, a 232-man Tekken 8 tournament happened, and Mangja reigned over them all.

Mangja’s records have always been solid. Second at the Tekken World Tour Finals 2025, 9th at Evo Japan 2026, and third at Combo Breaker 2026. It always seemed like he was the bridesmaid but never the bride. However, all of that changed after winning quite possibly one of the hardest Tekken 8 tournaments to date.

Just to give a little context, attendees include Evo Japan 2026 champion Kim “iKARi” Min-kyu, Tekken legend Bae “Knee” Jae-Min, and Tekken World Tour Finals 2025 champion Yoon “LowHigh” Sun-woong. That’s the level of competition he’s facing. So, who met him in the Grand Finals? None other than another player who’s suffering the same fate as him: Takaba Keisuke.

Keisuke has been competing since 2013 and has delivered great results. Second in DreamHack Atlanta 2026, second in CEO 2024, and 7th in Battle Arena Melbourne 15. Again, just like Mangja, he has yet to get his maiden Tier 1 win in Tekken 8.

The finals between Keisuke and Mangja have reached the maximum of 10 games. A 3-2 Grand Finals reset allowed Keisuke to have a real chance of taking the trophy away. However, in the final round of the final game, Mangja played much more solidly than him, which led to his loss. 

As a Keisuke fan, this is heartbreaking, as a single combo starter could’ve been him raising the trophy. However, I also can’t get mad at Mangja because this is his maiden Tier 1 win in Tekken 8 after always getting second.

Ultimately, I think the viewers are the real champions in this tournament. All throughout the event, amazing Tekken was shown. Glimpses of punishes, neutral, and movement were seen across matches, which pleases my Tekken heart.

Finally, some good *ss Tekken.

Now back to Smash! But Super Smash Bros. Melee, you know, the unproblematic one. While all of these tournaments are happening, Battle of BC 8 was also in progress. Kurtis “moky” Pratt has been a top player in Melee for quite some time now, and of course, if you’ve reached that level of play, you’re going to run into the only remaining active God of Melee: Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma.

If you’ve been in the scene long enough, you know how Hungrybox plays. Slow and methodical. Some people say lame, but hey, that’s their opinion. Anyway, a match between Moky and Hungrybox happened over at Battle of BC 8, where Hungrybox won 3-1. So, like any other competitor, Hungrybox offered a handshake after the set, but Moky denied it, insisting for a fistbump instead.

This shouldn’t be a huge problem; those are the common ways of showing sportsmanship before and after the set, after all. However, Moki posted something on Twitter shortly after.

In the tweet, he mentioned that he “lost in the lamest ways possible” and “the audacity to go for the handshake is insane there though.” He finished the tweet by saying that he has no respect for people playing “like that.”

Then, he doubled down:

I know how he feels. It’s always frustrating to get “lamed out” and lose to zoners or very defensive players. The FGC also prides itself on being raw and unfiltered at times, so showing your frustration in times like that shouldn’t be a big deal. Players are people too, and there will be times when things don’t go their way.

Let’s just be thankful that Hungrybox didn’t win the tournament, or his pop-off might’ve spelled the end of the universe.

The data pulled is from 1-7 June 2026. Kalshi’s esports markets generated a total of $36.18 million in total contract volume, across 408 matches. Six titles featured on the Kalshi platform: Counter-Strike: 2, League of Legends, Valorant, Call of Duty and Overwatch.

CS2 led comfortably with $23.7 million and 65.6% of all esports volume across 236 matches. Valve’s legendary FPS title is currently in the swing of the IEM Cologne Major, and thus it’s hardly surprising that it sits top of the charts.

I’d expect that to be an even bigger percentage come the finals on 21 June. Counter-Strike has always been open to gambling sponsors and through skin betting has more of an embedded gambling culture than others. So there’s little surprise it leads the way in interest.

League of Legends came in second with $8.7 million across 116 matches, drawing volume from the LCK (Korea), LPL (China), LEC (Europe), and regional circuits. Valorant reached $2.1 million from 13 matches, and Dota 2 generated $1.5 million from 11. Call of Duty and Overwatch were smaller but steady presences on the platform.

BIG vs. NRG in CS2 was the most-traded individual match of the week at $1.44 million in combined volume. GamerLegion vs. B8 Esports ($1.05M) and M80 vs. B8 Esports ($1.05M) rounded out the top three, both also in CS2. The first League of Legends market to appear in the top 10 was Karmine Corp vs. G2 Esports at $1.02M.

Kalshi is a prediction market platform where users trade contracts on the outcome of real-world events, including esports matches. Instead of traditional betting odds, Kalshi works like a market: you buy a “Yes” contract if you think a team will win, or a “No” contract if you think they won’t. Prices move based on supply and demand, and contracts settle at $1 if correct, $0 if not.

Therefore, the volume traded metric does not show us much beyond the “interest” in a market. It shows us how much collective money flowed into a certain match. For example, a match with $1 million in volume simply means that $1 million of contracts changed hands on that outcome. It is not, therefore, a measure of how much anyone won or lost. A person could buy a position at $0.01 and thus, they have not actually wagered $1.

High volume on a match means a lot of traders were interested in that outcome, it could reflect a high-profile fixture, two evenly matched teams, or simply that the match fell at a popular time. It does not tell us who the market thought would win, nor does it tell us how much individual traders made or lost.

Volume is the best measure we have from this data for gauging which matches captured the most attention on Kalshi each week.

However, there could also be a myriad of other factors that explain the volume on esports. Esports is known for its data latency, and there have been public examples of people coding bots to take advantage of data lag to take out positions that the typical fan, and thus market, has not reacted to. Future pieces will look to explore this phenomenon.

Pride Month is a month-long celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, and many games find ways to take part. Riot is under fire once more after the Give Back V26 bundle in VALORANT leaked during Pride Month, pushing a straight couple rather than its queer agents at this questionable time.

Where is Nanobomb?

Esports titles are improving in LGBTQ+ representation, with many new characters identifying as queer, from gay to bi to non-binary. Overwatch and Apex Legends have a very impressive roster when it comes to representation, with Apex especially having great queer storylines and relationships.

I mean, Bloodhound and Fuse, hello!?! And these relationships don’t just exist. There are comics, short films, voice lines, and plenty of hinting and character development leading up to it. The relationships feel earned and complete, not just thrown in there to pander to the gaming community.

VALORANT has trailed behind with this kind of representation. Unlike Overwatch and Apex Legends, VALORANT will often not outright confirm any of its agents’ orientations or identities.

One confirmed couple is Killjoy and Raze. When Killjoy was added to the game, voice lines created a lot of speculation. Riot shared a romantic drawing of the two agents together in December 2022. This has made Killjoy and Raze the most-discussed relationship in VALORANT.

Despite all the love for Killjoy and Raze, affectionately called Nanobomb by fans, Riot hasn’t done much with the couple. You’d think Pride Month would be the perfect time to put in a bit of effort into their lore, but that hasn’t been the case either.

In the Give Back V26 bundle, we got in-game rewards featuring Viper and Chamber. This cis couple rubbed people the wrong way even when the relationship was first revealed, since Viper appeared to hate him in the game. Featuring them during Pride Month was an even bigger source of frustration.

Reactions to the leak include fun replies like: “These ugly cards are perfectly suited for a dogs*** ship that Riot couldn’t have put less effort into actually making sense if they tried. Well done.”

And: “Viper x Chamber might actually be THE worst ship of all time.”

Then: “Explain why you’re releasing cards for a straight ship no one asked for while completely ignoring the one canon lesbian couple you have during Pride Month. F**k you. Genuinely.”

Agreed.

Someone at Riot admitted back in 2022 that some regional markets censor LGBTQ+ content. And this is something Riot cares about. Clearly.

“The straightwashing of queer characters from games in countries with a poor record of LGBT+ rights is sad and proves that there is nothing more important than making the most money,” Twitch streamer Ben Austwick said at the time.

The continued laziness surrounding VALORANT’s one actual confirmed queer couple, while continuing to hype up an extremely toxic and forced straight relationship, is not something to be ignored.

During Pride Month, it almost feels intentional.