RIOT TRYING TO KILL SEA VAL SCENE

#1

Apparently, the next SEA split 3 will be held offline in Thailand and streamed EXCLUSIVELY on SOOP (the global version of Afreecatv, which some of you might know from the offseason). Worse yet, they likely won't allow any watch parties or re-stream on other platforms.

Essentially, SOOP is paying rito to draw site traffic from SEA. Imo this is straight up stupid because when the first rumors about region merging came out, they mentioned something about trying to increase viewership or the region couldn't get any sponsorships due to low viewership. However, I don't see this as a viable plan to boost viewership.

This Jake Sin dude probably hate SEA or something lmao and i'll keep bumping this thread so everyone know how fucked up this situation is

https://imgur.com/a/3sOA69w

EDIT #1 :
Lets see things from T2 org perspectives. These orgs are already suffering from not being able to get into franchise league and now they're being forced to play on a platform that no one use, which means minimal viewership and consequently, a lack of sponsorship opportunities. Simply put, the streams aren't generating enough numbers to attract sponsors from them which in the process kinda kill those org operational in the long run.

#2

ButterflyEffect23

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Riot try to make a good decision challenge

#3

nihso

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wtf

#4

Ballsamolee

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tf is soop?????

#5

StrafingGoatWoweeClap

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exactly what im thinking but they were exclusively stream TH challenger before

#9

Ballsamolee

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bro the website is so fucking dead that the most streamed live stream in the history of that site was the mith vs FS grand finals, and that had double the amount of streams compared to the 2nd most which was a watchparty of that game. most (almost all) of the streams on that website is from the thailand valorant channel, 2 valorant watchparty channels, and 1 gta channel (who also streams valorant). all are thai.

#6

NerdyOmen

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wtf why thai??

#7

arin2016

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Why are they trying to screw up Thai scene when it's arguably the best in SEA

#17

StrafingGoatWoweeClap

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its not even only thai, they are going for the whole SEA

#8

IonlywatchvcjXD

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Ok this is so stupid tbh , as if exclusive stream at soop isn't short sighted enough. Even if they do get SOOP's money , they just make it inaccessible for many viewers out there, and to make it worse they choose to waste this money on purely offline event??? What is riot thinking.

The money that SOOP pays better feed vcl SEA for 5 years or else the scene is fucked

#10

Quanzhing

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Gosh, I hate watching on SOOP. I know this site, I have seen some Starcraft II Korean matches there. Stream on SOOP, sure. But also have a restream on Twitch or Youtube for more audience...

#11

IonlywatchvcjXD

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I'm not so sure about that , the views prior to SOOP, to me isn't that impressive considering the region.

Anyone has the stats on VCL Thai in Youtube and Twitch vs SOOP? Understanding this might justify (ALTHOUGH just a little) the decision to stream in SOOP

sry I misread your post, Riot probably struck a deal with SOOP with contract😅

#12

PP12123213123

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based on esportchart.com

average viewer from only main channel
VALORANT Challengers 2024: Thailand Split 2 , SOOP : 4925
VALORANT Challengers 2024: Thailand Split 1 , Afreeca : 6326
VALORANT Challengers 2023: Thailand Split 2 , Twitch + Youtube : 12497

#15

IonlywatchvcjXD

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That soop money better feed vcl for 5 years bro if they're willing to let viewership tank this much.

#18

StrafingGoatWoweeClap

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and the numbers isnt even count the watchparties which im pretty sure soop and afreeca have no watchparties bcs they are not allowing any

#13

TooCaution_Heartless

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what winner split 3 get
give slot to acension or something ??

#22

StrafingGoatWoweeClap

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circuit point or something idk but i didnt see any hint about this treated as 'off-season' alternatives. Theyre actually trying to implement this SEA challenger thing into the whole T2.

#14

Inort

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Paying Riot to bring traffic???
Bro no ones gonna watch on that Site. Why riot always gets success in taking bad decisions

#16

Huyab

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Exclusive on SOOP???? fuckit, im not watching SEA tier 2 anymore and Jake sin can suck CHAEBOL's sloppy dicks for all i care..

#19

envyz

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RIOT make GOOD FORMAT NO! RIOT GIVE GOOD SETUPS NO! RIOT GIVE GOOD ENTERTAINMENT TO THE FANS NO! RIOT MAKE SEA VALORANT UNWATCHABLE YESS! THIS FUCKING COMPANY IS DYING ESPORTS IS A DEAD INDUSTRY THE HEAD OF COMPETITIVE VALORANT NEEDS TO BE FIRED A 5 YEAR OLD COULD ACTUALLY MAKE A BETTER FORMAT THAN THIS

#20

scof

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uhm, do u need to talk man?

#24

ayayaay

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they increased skin prices over and over but this is what we get 😭

#21

Galactic_Saucepan

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What is this screenshot from?

#23

StrafingGoatWoweeClap

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from a stream on SOOP platform itself

#25

Biostar

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The biggest reason why esports is a bubble is because viewership itself cannot create value. Unlike traditional sports, there is no offline market and it is difficult to sell broadcasting rights at high prices, so viewership has only value as a link to game skin profits. Viewership is important, but it has no value in itself. Honestly, this is even more true in regions like SEA. Each SEA viewer cannot create the same value as NA, Europe, or East Asia. Then, it would be better to sell the broadcasting rights at a fixed price.
It's funny that SOOP only has about 10 streamers and 50 viewers, but even so, they have the right to invest in expansion. If you ask Twitch to buy the broadcasting rights, they won't buy them.

#26

StrafingGoatWoweeClap

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But it will be bad for the org. I don't think there's any other reason why these T2 orgs keep getting sponsors except for viewership, even if these orgs have quite a fanbase, the numbers won't be as big as the casual viewer. The SOOP contract is basically killing viewership and might even lead to a disband because, from a business perspective, why would they pay these players salaries with big operational costs (since they will be playing abroad) without any beneficial return?

Sorry for the late reply but i kinda agree with your takes on viewership.

#27

ItsMeDio

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isn't this basically how ow dead? they literally didn't learn from others

#29

StrafingGoatWoweeClap

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ruined wild rift scene
failed SEA LoL launch

and now this, yep idt they ever learnt anything from past experience

#31

bearmans

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they are not failed on LoL pc launch, they INTENTIONALLY fumble it by giving the chance to garena to manage LoL.

#32

StrafingGoatWoweeClap

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im talking about LoL state after rito managing LoL for SEA not the before

#33

bearmans

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it's still a disaster though. but i agree the damn transition from garena to riot's dedicated server is just bad. they almost got no ads for it. or even pay influencer to try and play the game.

#28

FDWC-

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I could care less about S3 honestly

S3 is a offseason tournaments and the winner only gets money

SOOP can have it cuz i aint watching that

#30

StrafingGoatWoweeClap

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idk if SOOP contract only for S3 or no, stupid if not tbh