The eSports Awards 2024 were held on August 24th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with the eSports World Cup. The awards event celebrated the top achievements in the eSports scene across several categories.
The event saw several winners and Riot Games’ shooter title Valorant won the eSports Game of the Year award. While this is good news for the developer and the game, many feel that it didn’t deserve to win.
Valorant Wins eSports Game of the Year Again
The awards event was followed by controversy, as some panelists dropped out of the event. However, the event went on positively. Valorant is one of the most popular shooter titles out there and has a massive community with players all over the world.
The game received four nominations at the event and won all four, including the prestigious Game of the Year award. This is the second Game of the Year award win at the event for the game, as it also won the award in 2023 when the event was held in Las Vegas.
Not deserve tbh, CS is way better.
— Oskar 'L4rZ' Persson (@L4rZcs) August 24, 2024
There were several other awards won by developer Riot Games, such as Publisher of the Year and Content of the Year for GODS by NewJeans. While gamers seemed okay with all this, many said that Valorant is undeserving of the Game of the Year award.
Gamers Are Unhappy With Valorant Winning the GotY Award
Many players, even who play Valorant, could not believe that the game won the award. Players alleged that the game did not even come close to what Counter-Strike has achieved in the arena with all the events, venue, and crowd and said that the game did not deserve to win.
Players have alleged that Riot Games paid for the award with many calling it rigged. Gamers believe that Counter-Strike is way better and should have won the award instead.
Wait… I love (lovehate relationship with atp) but how? CS2 had such an incredible crowd and venue with insane games. Even me who glazes gotta admit this feels rigged
— RageSG (@RageSGOfficial) August 24, 2024
Fans have said that there are only two or three events held in a year and no one watches in person at the venues. However, Counter-Strike garners audiences at the venues and it was robbed of the award.
Although fans do not agree with these allegations from those advocating for Counter-Strike, it is true that Counter-Strike did get more attention from players than Riot Games’ FPS title, especially afte the launch of Counter-Strike 2.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Counter-Strike should have won the award? Let us know in the comments!
