Recently, one of the prominent Valorant esports players, Sentinels player Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo, took to Twitch to express his deep disappointment in Riot. He grilled Riot for using lower-end PCs during their premier competitions like VCT, stating that if he can afford it, surely Riot can too.
Spotted by Dexerto during a recent Twitch livestream, TenZ spoke about not understanding Riot’s perspective on investing in lower-end PCs for their competitions. TenZ compares the situation with his days as a Counter-Strike pro, where their PCs were outfitted with the best CPUs and GPUs and came with a monitor with the highest refresh rate.
The former CS Pro expands, stating that Riot, on the other hand, features some “off-brand” monitors that are “2 generations behind”. He understands that purchasing a bunch of high-end PCs costs a lot, “but if I can fund that from my bank account right now, then sure as hell, Riot can do it”, said the Sentinels player.
TenZ speaks about how this has been a complaint against Riot for so many events, and they have yet to make any moves to remedy the situation. At the same time, he is “almost certain” that Riot uses the same PCs for Valorant and LoL esports competitions, and the company might be “trying to min/max the cost” by using the same hardware for both games. However, he added, “League can run on a potato,” but Valorant is different.
TenZ also commented on a YouTube clip of his opinion, stating that his complaints aren’t an “excuse” and that he has a “big enough platform” to voice his opinion as a competitor, which is not just for him but all the players participating at these events. He feels the best players should use the best gear; “that’s just a fact”. Also, he added, “Riot makes so much money from this game, and it feels like they put the bare minimum back towards the esports scene”.
In other news, the World Series of Warzone global final is heading to Las Vegas. Also, Valorant’s open beta on Xbox Series X/S launched a few days ago. Do you think that TenZ calling out Riot for using lower-end PCs at their competitions can change the situation for VCT 2024? Let us know in the comments.
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