Game developer Riot Games has revealed that the VALORANT Champions skin bundle has raised more than $20m (~£15.8m) for participating teams.
The Champions Bundle was released on August 4th ahead of VALORANT’s season-ending world championship, VALORANT Champions. 50% of the skin bundle’s net proceeds will be split between all 16 VALORANT Champions 2023 participants, meaning that the bundle has generated over $40m in total — with five days still to go.
Over the last 12 months, Riot Games has looked to utilise skin bundles as a way to bolster revenue opportunities for VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) partner teams, as well as Chinese competitors. Notably at VCT LOCK//IN earlier this year Riot raised over $10m (~£8.42m) for teams involved in the event through in-game sales.
This revenue-sharing method has also been recently utilised in Riot’s other major esports title, League of Legends. At the MOBA’s Mid-Season Invitational tournament (MSI), held in London, League of Legends unveiled special in-game and cosmetic items that boosted the tournament’s prize pool.
Taking place in Los Angeles, VALORANT Champions 2023 is the culmination of the FPS title’s inguinal esports season under its new semi-franchised league model. The tournament, which is set to conclude later this month, has so far garnered an average viewership of 426,300.
The VALORANT Champions Bundle includes a Vandal and Melee skin, alongside other cosmetic items such as a player card, gun accessory and spray.
Riot Games’ announcement via social media follows a wave of VALORANT developments that have been provided by the game publisher. On top of revealing the skin sales, VALORANT unveiled its plans for the VALORANT Champions Tour in 2024 and revealed its 2023 VCT OFF//SEASON schedule.
