Why Valorant Players Are Throwing Their Ranked Matches
High-ranking "Valorant" players are noticing more and more people throwing games on both teams. Ranked lobbies in any game have to deal with the occasional player who decides to intentionally lose a game, whether from rage or even to fall to lower ranks and smurf. However, recent "Valorant" streamers are noticing that more players in their lobbies are throwing games for money.
Esports betting has been a problem in the past, so much so that even the FBI has gotten involved in esports in the past. "Valorant" pros have also been banned for manipulating games, so it's not even new to the FPS game. Betting has mostly been at a professional level, but people are now able to bet crypto on matches involving streamers, according to reporter Jake Lucky. These haven't been measly bets, either. According to pro player Tarik, who plays for Sentinels, people are making thousands on each game.
Other pro players that stream and have been targeted have also spoken about the problem. NRG FNS joked about throwing games when the other team includes crypto betters. He wrote, "If there is a crypto bettor on the other team, can we all please agree to throw the game? I want them to lose every cent and be on the street begging me for a sandwich. Thanks." While the rates of throwing matches to manipulate bets seems to be rising, it's actually quite difficult to pull off.
This isn't something easy to do
In order to be in these competitive queues, players have to climb up the ranked ladder to get to these streamers' level – considering many of these streamers also play at a pro level, this is no easy task. In a clip shared by Lucky, Tarik explained one way that some people are playing through ranked in groups of five. This helps them get to higher ranks more quickly, and from there they can play separately and make money on their matches if they go against someone they can bet against.
Despite the obvious problem with this, there's still no word from Riot about fixing the issue. To be fair, it may be hard to do, considering it's third-party sites that are the problem. Riot has already targeted smurf accounts in past updates, including an update last month that buffed Sage.
Players had some other ideas, such as banning IPs from people who are taking part in esports betting, but there are a few problems with the proposed penalties. Things like VPN programs make it easy to get around IP blocks, and it would also prohibit honest players on the same internet (like siblings or roommates) from being able to play the game. Additionally, it's hard to ban something like throwing games without accidentally banning people who may just be playing poorly. Either way, it's a tough situation for both Riot and players.