Just like that, in a blink of an eye, the inaugural tournament of Valorant’s 2023 season is over, with 32 teams battling in São Paulo, Brazil for the trophy. After a month of grueling matches, EMEA powerhouse Fnatic has claimed the trophy, restoring the region to its glory, while granting EMEA an extra slot for Masters Japan.
As with most of the big Valorant tournaments, all eyes turn to the crowdfunding opportunities Riot Games presents the fan base. The LOCK//IN bundle served up quite a few stylish looks, and after the bundle sale ended, Riot revealed final sales have led to over $10 million going to the 32 teams that participated in LOCK//IN.
As mentioned, this isn’t the first time Riot has done something like this, as the last two Champions events brought the “Champions Bundle” chock full of various skins, finishers, and bling to terrorize lobbies. Each of those bundles has been rather pricey, but fifty percent of the sales goes towards the participating teams, each raising millions of dollars and raising plenty of goodwill as players get to support their favorite teams.
The importance of the LOCK//IN bundle can’t be mentioned enough, as this marks the beginning of Valorant and Riot Games’ goal of franchising the competitive circuit. For a tournament that raised plenty of questions over its format, this result points to the freshly franchised competitive circuit possibly proving to be a fruitful attempt.
Valorant is currently available on PC via Xbox Game Pass or the Riot Client. Be sure to check out everything new coming with the launch of the new season and more tips and tricks down below.
