Twitch to Host Rivals VALORANT EU Showdown

Twitch Esports announced that they will be hosting the Twitch Rivals: VALORANT Europe Showdown on May 2nd and 3rd at 5 am PT. The tournament will feature a variety of EU based Twitch streamers competing for a $100,000 prize which will be donated to the pandemic relief efforts. Details about the format and streamers involved are forthcoming.

Ready up for the $100,000 Twitch Rivals: VALORANT Europe Showdown!

Your favorite EU @PlayVALORANT Twitch streamers battle for the title & $100,000 for charity in the fight against COVID-19.

Watch May 2nd & 3rd at 5am PT https://t.co/xea83i1yVm pic.twitter.com/pDTafeRpe2

— Twitch Esports (@TwitchEsports) April 28, 2020

Twitch Rivals has been one of the first tournament organizers to put on VALORANT events. The Europe Showdown will be the third VALORANT event hosted by Twitch Rivals in 2020. The tournament series previously hosted the Twitch Rivals: VALORANT Showcase on April 3rd followed by the Showdown on April 7th.

VALORANT is expected to release in the Summer of 2020. Although Riot’s tactical shooter is currently in closed beta, there is already a large demand for tournaments and competitive events. Riot has been very vocal about their intentions to make it into a global esport and they released plans earlier this month which detailed how they will sanction tournaments.

We know VALORANT has the makings of a global esport, but want to make sure we're building it right – and together.@RiotMagus talks first steps toward building the VALORANT esports ecosystem and our community tournament support: https://t.co/2b9Wk4zPNj pic.twitter.com/WGICR4XJsT

— VALORANT (@VALORANT) April 15, 2020

Ranked mode is also coming soon. Riot announced on Tuesday that they will be launching the VALORANT competitive mode with ranked matchmaking very soon. According to their tweet, the ranked mode will be activated “when everything is stable.” Presumably they want to make sure their matchmaking servers are up to snuff before launching the new mode.

New patch incoming! EU matchmaking+servers go down at 3:30AM CEST on April 29 (local time), back up around 9AM CEST.

Also on April 29 (local time), NA matchmaking+servers start going down at 4:30AM PT. Back up at 10AM PT.

Ranked will be on when everything is stable. pic.twitter.com/jIWMIZ158K

— VALORANT (@VALORANT) April 28, 2020