Allied Esports has announced its participation in the VALORANT Ignition Series, Riot Games’ first official tournament series for the popular game, with the creation of Allied Esports Odyssey. The €15,000 online European tournament, which will be produced from Allied Esports’ HyperX Esports Studio in Hamburg, Germany, will run August 11-16 with each daily match live streamed on twitch.tv/AlliedEsports.
Featuring a total of six teams, including four household names from Europe’s early-stage VALORANT scene – G2 (@G2esports), Ninjas in Pyjamas (@NiPGaming), Fish123 (@fish123Valorant) and Vodafone Giants (@GiantsGamingENG) – and two additional teams from open qualifiers on August 8-9 with tournament partner challengermode, the unique format of Allied Esports Odyssey will test the stamina and resilience of each participant and give fans a chance to watch incredible matchups each day.
All six teams will play a best-of-two match over the first five days, guaranteeing a head-to-head matchup between each team, collecting three points for a win and one point for a draw – plus a share of the prize money. The top four teams will advance to the next round on August 16, where a double elimination, best-of-one, GSL format will produce two remaining teams that will battle in a best-of-three final match to crown the Allied Esports Odyssey Champion.
“The Ignition Series has allowed partners from all over the world to experiment with a vast amount of competitive formats, allowing fans of VALORANT esports to help us identify which competitive structures lead to the most exciting matches,” said Kasra Jafroodi, Esports Strategy Lead for VALORANT Esports. “The format Allied Esports Odyssey is testing with their event will provide viewers with an innovative competition that will further grow the competitive scene in Europe.”
“We are honored to take part in Riot’s inaugural VALORANT series and are thrilled to introduce players and fans to an extended format that will create anticipation and high-pressure game play each day,” said Jud Hannigan, CEO of Allied Esports. “The VALORANT community across our property network has been extremely engaged and we’re excited to watch six world-class teams perform at the highest level for their fans across the globe.”
VALORANT has been a key addition to Allied Esports’ offline and online programming in 2020. In Europe, Allied Esports’ VALORANT Legend Series tournament concluded on Friday with team @WaveValorant taking home the crown. Allied Esports has totaled a €7,500 payout across five VALORANT Legend Series tournaments for the DACH market (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).
In North America, VALORANT was added to the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas lineup earlier this year and continued as a featured weekly event when tournaments were moved online in March. Starting today, Allied Esports will kick off its month-long online VALORANT Strafe Series for North American players featuring four weeks of qualifying events before a final event for a $2,500 prize pool on September 1.
For real-time content, recaps, updates and additional information, visit AlliedEsports/odyssey and follow Allied Esports on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube leading up to and throughout the Odyssey tournament.